Heritage ( hy, Ժառանգություն, translit=Zhaṙangut’yun) is an

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

national liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A seri ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

. It was founded in 2002 by Raffi Hovannisian, independent Armenia's first Foreign Minister.

Ideology

Liberal democracy Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into ...

is the party's principle ideology. ;Economy *The party has stated its support for

Economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberali ...

. *Other domestic policy goals include legal reforms, the development of civil society and the economic development of Armenia. Heritage has stated that sustaining the competitiveness of the market will help strengthen the Armenian economy. *The party also believes that reducing poverty and building good social services should be prioritized. By taking these measures, Heritage has the objective to reduce emigration from Armenia and stop the “brain drain” from the country. *The party supports the establishment of a

Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area The Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas (DCFTA) are three free trade areas established between the European Union, and Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine respectively. The DCFTAs are part of each country's EU Association Agreement. They allow Geor ...

between Armenia and the EU. ;Foreign Affairs *The party's foreign policy can be characterized as balanced, but also as pro-Western. The Heritage party underlines maintaining and developing good relations with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, China and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, but sees European integration and cooperation as the key to progress. European integration is not a goal on its own, but rather a tool for improved well-being, prosperity and security. With Turkey, Heritage advocates an open and honest dialogue. *The party not only advocates for the integration of Armenia with Europe but also the eventual accession of Armenia into the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. Heritage firmly believes that for centuries Armenia has been one of the constituents of European civilization, regardless of the geographical boundaries drawn for

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. The party believes that Armenia must adhere to Pan-European values and that Armenia can contribute to the enrichment of Europe's cultural heritage. *Some party members have advocated their support for the withdrawal of Armenia from the

Collective Security Treaty Organization The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is an intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia consisting of six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. The Collective Security Treaty has ...

. *The party supports recognition of the

Republic of Artsakh Artsakh, officially the Republic of Artsakh () or the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (),, is a breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Artsakh controls a part of the former ...

as an independent state (the party has several times unsuccessfully proposed bills in parliament that would formally recognize Artsakh by the Republic of Armenia). *Continued cooperation with both

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

and CIS member states.

Electoral record

The party emerged as the fifth largest party in the

National Assembly of Armenia The National Assembly of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետության Ազգային ժողով, ''Hayastani Hanrapetyut'yan Azgayin zhoghov'' or simply Ազգային ժողով, ԱԺ ''Azgayin Zhoghov'', ''AZh''), also infor ...

after its debut in the

2007 Armenian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 12 May 2007. 1,364 candidates ran for the 131 seats, 41 of which were constituency seats with the remaining 90 being filled by a proportional party-list system. The electoral threshold was five per ...

s. It won 6% of the popular vote and obtained 7 seats. Prior to the 2012 parliamentary election, some Free Democrats party members decided to run under the Heritage list. Following the election, Heritage won 5 seats with 86,998 votes, becoming the smallest faction within the National Assembly, with

Zaruhi Postanjyan Zaruhi Postanjyan ( hy, Զարուհի Փոստանջյան; born January 16, 1972, Yerevan) is an Armenian Member of Parliament since 2007, a public activist and a member of Heritage board. She was the head of "Heritage" faction of National Asse ...

as its leader. Heritage participated in the

2017 Armenian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 2 April 2017. They were the first elections after a constitutional referendum in 2015 that approved reforms for the country to become a parliamentary republic. The result was a victory for the rul ...

as part of the ORO Alliance, however the alliance gained just 2.07% of the popular vote, winning no seats. The party decided not to participate in the

2018 Armenian parliamentary election Snap parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 9 December 2018, as none of the parties in the National Assembly were able to put forward and then elect a candidate for Prime Minister in the two-week period following the resignation of incum ...

or the

2021 Armenian parliamentary election Snap parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 20 June 2021. The elections had initially been scheduled for 9 December 2023, but were called earlier due to a political crisis following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War and an alleged attempted ...

. The party currently acts as an

extra-parliamentary An extra-parliamentary opposition is a political movement opposed to a ruling government or political party that chooses not to engage in elections. Many social movements could be categorized as an extra-parliamentary opposition. Europe The Ger ...

force.

National Assembly

Presidential elections

Local elections

The party participated in the 2013 Yerevan City Council elections as part of the Barev Yerevan alliance. Barev Yerevan consisted mostly of Heritage party members, in addition to a few members from the Democratic Way Party, the Democratic Homeland Party, and the Conservative Party. The alliance came in third place, winning 8.48% of the vote and gaining 6 seats in the

Yerevan City Council The Yerevan City Council () is the lawmaking body of the city of Yerevan, the capital and largest city of Armenia. It has 65 members elected by Party-list proportional representation system, headed by the Mayor of Yerevan. The Council serves as a ...

. The party participated in the

2018 Yerevan City Council election Yerevan City Council elections were held on 23 September 2018. The snap election was trigged after the resignation of former mayor Taron Margaryan amid the aftermath of the 2018 Armenian Velvet Revolution. Well-known comedian and actor Hayk Marut ...

s, receiving just 0.75% of the popular vote, failing to win any seats in the Yerevan City Council.

Acitivities

On 25 March 2021, Raffi Hovannisian met with the President of Armenia Armen Sarksyan to discuss the political situation in the country. On 1 April 2021, Heritage signed a joint declaration with four other political parties calling on the

Government of Armenia A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

to ensure free and fair upcoming elections, following the on-going political unrest in Armenia. On 15 April 2021, the party signed a joint statement with eight other political parties calling on the President of Armenia to ensure

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...

and the Constitution of Armenia is upheld in the country during the

2020–2021 Armenian protests The 2020−2021 Armenian protests (also known as the March of Dignity; hy, Արժանապատվության երթ, translit=Arzhanapatvut'yan yert') were a series of protests that began following the Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement on 10 ...

References

External links

Official website
{{European People's Party Political parties established in 2002 2002 establishments in Armenia Political parties in Armenia Armenian nationalism European People's Party Member parties of the European People's Party Nationalist parties in Armenia Pro-European political parties in Armenia Liberal parties in Armenia