The Democratic Homeland Party () is an

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 ...

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, ...

. The Chairman of the party is Petros Makeyan.

History

The party was founded in 1988. The party withdrew its participation in the

2003 Armenian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 25 May 2003. There were 56 constituency seats and 75 elected on a national basis using proportional representation. They saw the Republican Party of Armenia emerge as the largest party, with 33 of t ...

, over concerns of electoral corruption. The party subsequently joined the

Armenian National Congress The Armenian National Congress () is an Armenian political party led by former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan and was formed in 2008. Its direct predecessor was the Pan-Armenian National Movement. It is often abbreviated as ՀԱԿ or HAK, in k ...

and participated in an electoral bloc with them in the

2012 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 s ...

. The Armenian National Congress won 7 seats 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 ...

. Prior to the 2012 election, the Democratic Homeland Party feared that the election would be rigged and proclaimed that the

Republican Party of Armenia The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA, ; , ''HHK'') is a National conservatism, national-conservative List of political parties in Armenia, political party in Armenia led by the third president of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan. It was the first polit ...

was a criminal organization. The Democratic Homeland Party eventually became skeptical of and left the Armenian National Congress. Several party members participated in the

2013 Yerevan City Council election Yerevan City Council election was held on May 5, 2013. The Republican Party of Armenia won 56% of the total vote, Prosperous Armenia had 23%, while Barev Yerevan won over 8%. The opposition parties and the local observers denounced the elections ...

, under 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's Barev Yerevan alliance. The alliance came in third place, winning 8.48% of the vote. The party currently does not have any representation in the National Assembly and 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 party believes in developing a strong and transparent democracy in Armenia, and opposes political

oligarchy Oligarchy (; ) is a form of government in which power rests with a small number of people. Members of this group, called oligarchs, generally hold usually hard, but sometimes soft power through nobility, fame, wealth, or education; or t ...

. The party also opposes serving the interests of foreign powers in Armenia, at the expense of Armenia's and Artsakh's security.

Activities

In March 2014, party leader Petros Makeyan stated that the

Prosperous Armenia Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP; , abbreviated as ԲՀԿ BHK), is a conservative list of political parties in Armenia, political party in Armenia. It was founded by businessman Gagik Tsarukyan on 30 April 2004, when the constituent congress of the ...

party and its leader

Gagik Tsarukyan Gagik Kolyayi Tsarukyan (), also known as Dodi Gago (), is an Armenian businessman, politician, and former athlete. Tsarukyan is the founder and leader of the Prosperous Armenia political party. He also owns various large-scale businesses and is b ...

are highly corrupt and had gained political support through financial bribery. Also in 2014, Makeyan proclaimed that

Serzh Sargsyan Serzh Azati Sargsyan (, ; born 30 June 1954)Official biography of Serzh Sargsyan

, the leader of the Republican Party of Armenia, had been indirectly controlling the

Orinats Yerkir Orinats Yerkir (, ՕԵԿ/OEK) is a political party operating in Armenia. Its foundation was in 1998, and founder Artur Baghdasaryan continues to lead the party. The party was formerly known as Armenian Renaissance (), during the run-up to the 2017 ...

party for years, during an interview. In June 2019, the party sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Armenia,

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 ...

, appealing him to strengthen democracy in Armenia. On 22 December 2020, the Democratic Homeland Party, the Conservative Party and the

Union for National Self-Determination Union for National Self-Determination () is an Armenian political party. It was founded in 1987 by Paruyr Hayrikyan, a Soviet dissident seeking independence for Armenia. History The party was founded in 1987 as the successor of the defunct Nati ...

held a joint meeting discussing the political situation in Armenia. On 26 February 2021, the party released a statement along with the Armenian Constructive Party and the Conservative Party, condemning the signing of the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement was an armistice agreement that ended the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. It was signed on 9November by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the Pr ...

. The three parties called for an end to Russian-Turkish interference in Armenia and Artsakh. On 15 April 2021, the party signed a joint declaration with eight other political parties calling on the President of Armenia to ensure democracy and the

Constitution of Armenia The Constitution of Armenia was adopted by a nationwide Armenian referendum on July 5, 1995. This constitution established Armenia as a democratic, sovereign, social, and constitutional state. Yerevan is defined as the state's capital. Power i ...

is upheld in the country 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 ...

References

{{Armenian political parties Political parties established in 1998 Political parties in Armenia Conservative parties in Armenia 1998 establishments in Armenia

History

Ideology

Activities

See also

References