The Apricot Country Party (), also known as Yerkir Tsirani is a

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

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

History

The party was established in March 2017, prior to the

2017 Yerevan City Council election Yerevan City Council elections were held on 14 May 2017. The Republican Party of Armenia won 71.25% of the total vote, the Way Out Alliance won 21%, while Yerkir Tsirani won 7.75%. Following the elections, Yerevan City Council elected Taron Mar ...

. Party leader

Zaruhi Postanjyan Zaruhi Postanjyan (; 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 Assembly of Armenia. Early life Zaruhi Posta ...

, a former member of the

Heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset A heritage asset is an item which has value because of its contribution to a nation's society, knowledge and/or culture. Such items are usually physical assets, but some countries also ...

party, was nominated to run for Mayor of

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

. Following the election, Postanjyan came in third place. On 9 November 2020, the party signed a joint declaration with the other member parties of the

Homeland Salvation Movement The Homeland Salvation Movement () was an Armenian political alliance, consisting of several opposition political parties, led by Vazgen Manukyan. History The alliance was established on 3 December 2020 from the dissatisfaction of the Governme ...

calling on Prime Minister

Nikol Pashinyan Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan (born 1 June 1975) is an Armenian politician who is serving as the 16th and current Prime Minister of Armenia, prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018. A journalist by profession, Pashinyan founded his own newspaper in ...

to resign during the

2020–2021 Armenian protests The 2020−2021 Armenian protests (also known as the March of Dignity; ) were a series of protests that began following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement on 10 November 2020. After Prime Minister ...

. The party does not have any political representation in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

and currently acts as an

extra-parliamentary An extra-parliamentary opposition, also referred to as simply extra-parliamentary or extraparliamentary, is a political movement opposed to a ruling government or political party that chooses not to engage in elections. Many social movements could ...

force.

Ideology

The parties manifesto calls for the development of strong and progressive statehoods of both Armenia and Artsakh, while opposing authoritarianism. The party encourages economic reform and immigration to Armenia, increasing environmental protection, and improving

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

for all citizens. The party advocates for allowing the

Armenian Diaspora The Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of Armenians outside Armenia and other locations where Armenians are considered an indigenous population. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. ...

to be allowed to vote in elections and giving the Armenian Diaspora political representation within the

. The party also supports the recognition of Artsakh as an independent state. In terms of foreign policy, the party supports Armenia's

European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...

and believes that Armenia belongs to the

Pan-European Pan-European can refer to: * Pan-European identity * Pan-European corridors ** Pan-European Corridor X ** Pan-European Corridor Xa * Pan European Game Information * Pan-European Institute * Pan-European nationalism * Pan-European Oil Pipeline * ...

family of states.

Electoral record

The party participated in the

. The party received 7.75% of the vote, gaining 5 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 monitors p ...

. The party also participated in the

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

, but lost all 5 seats in the Yerevan City Council following the election, gaining just 1.39% of the vote. The party has not participated in any national elections. 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 (Armenia), National Assembly were able to put forward and then elect a candidate for Prime Minister in the two-week period follo ...

, the party declined to participate and boycotted the election, due to concerns over

electoral fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...

and

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

. The party did not participate in the

2021 Armenian parliamentary election 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

s. Prior to the

2023 Yerevan City Council election Yerevan City Council elections were held on 17 September 2023. The Yerevan City Council comprises 65 members, including the mayor and the first deputy mayor, elected through a proportional electoral system. City Council members are elected for a f ...

, the party announced it would join the

Mother Armenia Alliance The Mother Armenia Alliance () is an Armenian political party. History The Mother Armenia Alliance was established on 9 August 2023 during a founding congress held in Yerevan. Chairman of the party, Andranik Tevanyan, was a former non-partisan ...

. Following the election, the alliance won 12 seats in the Yerevan City Council.

References

External links

Country of Apricots Party on Facebook
2017 establishments in Armenia Political parties in Armenia Political parties established in 2017 Pro-European political parties in Armenia {{Armenia-party-stub

History

Ideology

Electoral record

See also

References

External links