Free Democrats ( hy, Ազատ դեմոկրատներ, translit=Azat demokratner) 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 ...

n liberal,

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''. Politi ...

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 political ideology ...

. It was founded in 2011 by Khachatur Kokobelyan.

History

Some Free Democrats party members participated in the 2012 Armenian parliamentary election under the Heritage Party list. Following the election, Heritage won 5.78% of the vote. The party 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 ...

, however the party won just 0.94% of the vote, failing to win any political representation. Khachatur Kokobelyan headed the party list, while Hrant Bagratyan (former

Prime Minister of Armenia The prime minister of Armenia is the head of government and most senior minister within the Armenian government, and is required by the constitution to "determine the main directions of policy of the Government, manage the activities of the Gov ...

and leader of the Freedom Party) was the candidate for the post of Prime Minister. 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 ...

, the Free Democrats formed a

political alliance A political group is a group consisting of political parties or legislators of aligned ideologies. A technical group is similar to a political group, but with members of differing ideologies. International terms Equivalent terms are used diffe ...

known as the We Alliance with the Hanrapetutyun Party, another pro-Western and pro-European party in Armenia. During the election campaign, the Free Democrats advocated that Armenia should withdraw its membership from 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 Econo ...

and pursue closer relations with 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 ...

. The party also advocated for visa-free travel for Armenian citizens to the EU's

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and ...

. The Alliance received 2.00% of the votes. As this was lower than the 5% minimum threshold required, the We Alliance of Hanrapetutyn and Free Democrats failed to gain any 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 rep ...

. In November 2019, the party hosted American Ambassador to Armenia

Lynne M. Tracy Lynne M. Tracy is an American diplomat who is the United States ambassador to Russia, serving since January 2023. She formerly served as the United States ambassador to Armenia from 2019 to 2022. Early life and education Tracy was born in Barbe ...

at the parties headquarters in Yerevan, where a range of issues were discussed. On 21 April 2021, the Free Democrats had confirmed it would participate in 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 attempte ...

s. However, the party ultimately did not register to participate. Currently, the party acts as an extra-parliamentary force.

Ideology

The Free Democrats believe in establishing a more democratic Armenia, including developing a stronger civil society, a liberal market economy, greater protection of the environment and integrating Armenia into the European Union. The party firmly believes that Armenia's future is connected with

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 enti ...

. Party leader Khachatur Kokobelyan, had previously submitted a draft resolution calling for Armenia's Eurasian Union membership to be terminated. Kokobelyan stated that, "After joining the Eurasian Union, Armenia has faced greater problems, for example, in its relations with the EU, than it has received dividends. I am confident that we do not need this organization. After leaving it, Armenia will have alternatives." In addition, the Free Democrats believe in strengthening Armenia's

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 ...

, promoting

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 equality, the rule of law and support for civil society. In terms of economics, the party advocates for a strong

liberal market economy ''Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage'' is a 2001 book on economics, political economy, and comparative politics edited by political economists Peter A. Hall and David Soskice. Contents ''Varietie ...

and believes that by following the European path of development and standards, Armenia will achieve greater prosperity and security.

References

External links

Official website

Free Democrats
on Facebook {{Armenian political parties Political parties established in 2011 2011 establishments in Armenia Political parties in Armenia Pro-European political parties in Armenia Liberal parties in Armenia

History

Ideology

See also

References

External links