For Social Justice (), also known as For the Sake of Social Justice, 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, ...

History

The party was founded in 2016. On 10 November 2018, a new board of the party was elected and Arman Ghukasyan was re-elected as the party chairman, during a party congress. In September 2020, the party signed a declaration pledging to support the

Armenian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia (, abbreviated ՀՀ ԶՈՒ, ''HH ZU''), sometimes referred to as the Armenian Army (), is the national military of Armenia. It consists of personnel branches under the General Staff of the Armenian Arm ...

along with members 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 ...

political alliance. During the

2021 Armenian political crisis The 2021 Armenian political crisis was an alleged military coup attempt by the Armed Forces of Armenia led by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces Onik Gasparyan against the government of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pas ...

, the party further called on Armenian 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 step down. Arman Ghukasyan stated that, "The role of the Russian Federation in the security of Armenia is indisputable and we must immediately take steps to deepen Armenian–Russian relations in all directions."

Electoral record

The party initially announced its intentions to run 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 (Armenia), National Assembly were able to put forward and then elect a candidate for Prime Minister in the two-week period follo ...

s, but ultimately did not participate. Currently, the party 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, although the party has announced they will participate in future elections. The party participated in 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 ...

s, nominating Arman Ghukasyan as candidate for

Mayor of Yerevan The Mayor of Yerevan () is head of the executive branch of Yerevan's government. The mayor is elected by the Yerevan City Council. Recent 2018 Yerevan City Council election, city council elections took place in 2018, 2017 Yerevan City Council elec ...

. Following the elections, the party failed to win any 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 ...

, winning just 0.34% of the vote.

Ideology

The party advocates for increasing social security benefits, improving education and health care, reducing the gap between rich and poor, combating social injustice, and building a strong parliamentary republic. The party also favors the protection of public values and the implementation of a foreign policy aimed at Armenia's national interests. The party believes in maintaining strong relations with

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and considers Russia a strategic ally of Armenia. The party also supports the development of economic ties with the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and 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 Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, but not to the detriment of the traditional values of Armenian society. The party is in favor of Armenia's continued membership in the

Eurasian Economic 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 five post-Soviet states located in Eurasia. The EAEU has an integrated single ...

and the CIS.

Activities

Following the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding occupied territories. It was a major escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, involvi ...

, the party held several conferences with displaced residents from Artsakh. Arman Ghukasyan stated that the people of Artsakh must be supported by the Armenian government. Ghukasyan criticized Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and proclaimed that the Russian government has done more to help Artsakh then the

Government of Armenia The Government of the Republic of Armenia () or the executive branch of the Armenian government is an executive council of government ministers in Armenia. It is one of the three main governmental branches of Armenia and is headed by the Pr ...

References

External links