This article gives an overview of liberalism in

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 ''O ...

. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had representation in the National Assembly of Armenia.

Background

Prior to Armenia's independence, a national liberal movement arose in the country. Armenia officially gained its independence in 1991 from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. Following which, there were some attempts to establish a national liberal movement, however, these initial attempts were largely unsuccessful.

History

Below is a list of Liberal parties which sought to gain support during the turn of the nineteenth to the twentieth century:

From Armenakan Party to Democratic Liberal Party

* 1885: National liberals formed the

Armenakan Party The Armenakan Party (in Armenian Արմենական Կուսակցութիւն) was an Armenian political party established in Van, Ottoman Empire in 1885 by Mekertich Portukalian as an underground organization against the ruling system. It ...

. * 1908: The Armenakan Party merged with a faction of the Reorganised Hunchak Party into the

Ramgavar Party The Armenian Democratic Liberal Party ( hy, Ռամկավար Ազատական Կուսակցութիւն), the Ramgavar Party, (known before 1921 as the Armenakan party) ( hy, Արմենական Կուսակցութիւն), also known by its Ar ...

. * 1918: A liberal anti-violence faction of the Reorganised Hunchak Party' formed the Liberal Party (''Azadagan Party''). * 1921: The

merged in exile with the Liberal Party into the Democratic Liberal Party (Ramgavar Azadagan Party). This party continued operating in exile and is said to be represented in the first parliament after Armenian independence in the 1990s.

Recent developments

* The

2018 Armenian revolution The 2018 Armenian Revolution, most commonly known in Armenia as #MerzhirSerzhin ( hy, ՄերժիրՍերժին, meaning "#RejectSerzh"), was a series of anti-government protests in Armenia from April to May 2018 staged by various political and ...

sparked a wave of protests calling for an end to political

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

and to strengthen democratic values in Armenia. The protests brought an end to the rule of the

Republican Party of Armenia The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA, hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետական Կուսակցություն, ՀՀԿ; ''Hayastani Hanrapetakan Kusaktsutyun'', ''HHK'') is a national-conservative political party in Armenia led by the thir ...

, which had been in power from 1995 to 2017. * During the revolution, the

Way Out Alliance The Way Out Alliance ( hy, «Ելք» դաշինք, ԵԼՔ; ''YELK Dashink, YELQ'') or Yelk Alliance or simply Yelk or Way Out was a liberal political alliance of three political parties in Armenia: Civil Contract, Bright Armenia and the Hanrap ...

had emerged as a liberal political alliance. The alliance had a

Pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Polit ...

orientation and believed that Armenia should have closer relations with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

Nikol Pashinyan Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan ( hy, Նիկոլ Վովայի Փաշինյան, ; born 1 June 1975) is an Armenian politician serving as the prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018. A journalist by profession, Pashinyan founded his own newspaper in ...

was the main figurehead and leader of the Way Out Alliance. * Prior to 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 ...

, Pashinyan formed a new liberal democrat alliance called the My Step Alliance. Following the election, the alliance won 88 seats in the National Assembly and Pashinyan was appointed Prime Minister of Armenia on 9 May 2018. * Meanwhile,

Bright Armenia Bright Armenia ( hy, Լուսավոր Հայաստան, translit=Lusavor Hayastan) is a classical liberal political party in Armenia founded on 12 December 2015. History In 2017, Bright Armenia launched an educational program aimed at advancing ...

, another liberal party, became the third largest party in the National Assembly following the elections. The party maintained a

Classical Liberal Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, econom ...

ideology. The party opposed Armenia's membership in the

Eurasian Union The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU or EEU)EAEU is the acronym used on thorganisation's website However, many media outlets use the acronym EEU. is an economic union of some post-Soviet states located in Eurasia. The Treaty on the Eurasian Ec ...

and supported Armenia's full membership in the EU and wished to begin the first steps of accession negotiations without delay. It is a member of the

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

. The party is also an affiliated member of the

European Liberal Forum The European Liberal Forum, abbreviated to ELF, is a political foundation at the European level affiliated to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party. Founded in 2007, ELF brings together liberal think thanks, political foundatio ...

through their education program, the Institute of Liberal Politics. * Following 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 ...

, Nikol Pashinyan's

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the ...

liberal Civil Contract party, retained a majority in the National Assembly. * The

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

was founded in March 2021 and also participated in the elections, winning just 1.17% of the vote.

European orientation

* Armenia is a full member of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...

, the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...

, the EU's

Eastern Partnership The Eastern Partnership (EaP) is a joint initiative of the European External Action Service of the European Union (EU) together with the EU, its member states, and six Eastern European partners governing the EU's relationship with the post-Sovi ...

and the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly; all of which support the development and maintenance of democratic values in Armenia. * Some other political parties, which do not have current representation in the National Assembly, also advocate for closer

European integration European integration is the process of industrial, economic, political, legal, social, and cultural integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integration has primarily come about through the European Union and its ...

of Armenia and strengthening of liberal democratic values in the country. This includes the European Party of Armenia, For The Republic Party, Free Democrats,

Heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

Republic Party The Liberal Party ( pt, Partido Liberal, PL) is a conservative and national liberal political party in Brazil. From its foundation in 2006 until 2019, it was called the Party of the Republic ( pt, Partido da República, PR). The party was foun ...

, Liberal Democratic Union of Armenia and the Rule of Law Party. * In November 2017, a new Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement was signed by Armenia and the EU. The agreement includes provisions to further improve

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

and strengthening democratic reforms in Armenia. The agreement was ratified and entered into force on 1 March 2021.

References