Heritage () 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 ...

national liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A serie ...

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, ...

. It was founded in 2002 by

Raffi Hovannisian Raffi K. Richardi Hovannisian (; ; born 20 November 1959) is an Armenian politician, the first Foreign Minister of Armenia and the founding leader of the national liberal Heritage party. He is the founder of the Armenian Center for National and ...

, independent Armenia's first

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

Ideology

Liberal democracy Liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy, is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberalism, liberal political philosophy. Common elements within a liberal dem ...

is the party's principle ideology. ;Economy *The party has stated its support for

Economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...

. *Other domestic policy goals include legal reforms, the development of civil society and the economic development of Armenia. Heritage has stated that sustaining the competitiveness of the market will help strengthen the

Armenian economy The economy of Armenia grew by 5.9% in 2024, according to estimates by the International Monetary Fund, with total output amounting to $25.5 billion. GDP contracted sharply in 2020 by 7.1%, mainly due to the COVID-19 recession and the Second Na ...

. *The party also believes that reducing poverty and building good social services should be prioritized. By taking these measures, Heritage has the objective to reduce emigration from Armenia and stop the " brain drain" from the country. *The party supports the establishment of a

Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area The Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas (DCFTA) are three free trade areas established between the European Union, and Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine respectively. The DCFTAs are part of each country's EU Association Agreement. They allow Geo ...

between Armenia and the EU. ;Foreign Affairs *The party's foreign policy can be characterized as balanced, but also as pro-Western. The Heritage party underlines maintaining and developing good relations 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 ...

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 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, but sees

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 cooperation as the key to progress. European integration is not a goal on its own, but rather a tool for improved well-being, prosperity and security. With Turkey, Heritage advocates an open and honest dialogue. *The party not only advocates for the integration of Armenia with Europe but also the eventual accession of Armenia into 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 ...

. Heritage firmly believes that for centuries Armenia has been one of the constituents of European civilization, regardless of the geographical boundaries drawn for

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. The party believes that Armenia must adhere to Pan-European values and that Armenia can contribute to the enrichment of Europe's cultural heritage. *Some party members have advocated their support for the withdrawal of Armenia from the

Collective Security Treaty Organization The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO, ) is an Intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia consisting of six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. Th ...

. *The party supports recognition of the

Republic of Artsakh Artsakh ( ), officially the Republic of Artsakh or the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh ( ), was a breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory was internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Between 1991 and 2023, Artsakh cont ...

as an independent state (the party has several times unsuccessfully proposed bills in parliament that would formally recognize the Republic of Artsakh by Armenia). *Continued cooperation with both

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

and CIS member states.

Electoral record

The party emerged as the fifth largest party in the

National Assembly of Armenia The National Assembly of Armenia (, ''Hayastani Hanrapetyut'yan Azgayin zhoghov'' or simply Ազգային ժողով, ԱԺ, ''Azgayin Zhoghov'', ''AZh''), also informally referred to as the Parliament of Armenia (խորհրդարան, ''khor ...

after its debut in the

2007 Armenian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 12 May 2007. 1,364 candidates ran for the 131 seats, 41 of which were constituency seats with the remaining 90 being filled by a proportional party-list system. The electoral threshold was five per ...

s. It won 6% of the popular vote and obtained 7 seats. Prior to the 2012 parliamentary election, some Free Democrats party members decided to run under the Heritage list. Following the election, Heritage won 5 seats with 86,998 votes, becoming the smallest faction within the National Assembly, with

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 ...

as its leader. Heritage participated in the

2017 Armenian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 2 April 2017. They were the first elections after a 2015 Armenian constitutional referendum, constitutional referendum in 2015 that approved reforms for the country to become a parliamentary republi ...

as part of the ORO Alliance, however the alliance gained just 2.07% of the popular vote, winning no seats. The party decided not to participate 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 ...

or 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 ...

. The party 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.

National Assembly

Presidential elections

Local elections

The party participated in the 2013 Yerevan City Council elections as part of the Barev Yerevan alliance. Barev Yerevan consisted mostly of Heritage party members, in addition to a few members from the

Democratic Way Party The Democratic Way Party (), also known as the People's Way party or Democratic Path, is a political party in Armenia. It is led by Manuel Gasparyan. History The Democratic Way Party was founded in 2006 and is led by Manuel Gasparyan, a former m ...

, the Democratic Homeland Party, and the Conservative Party. The alliance came in third place, winning 8.48% of the vote and gaining 6 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 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 ...

s, receiving just 0.75% of the popular vote, failing to win any seats in the Yerevan City Council.

Activities

On 25 March 2021, Raffi Hovannisian met with the President of Armenia Armen Sarksyan to discuss the political situation in the country. On 1 April 2021, Heritage signed a joint declaration with four other political parties calling on 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 ...

to ensure free and fair upcoming elections, following the on-going

political unrest Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of status or resources. The branch of social science that studies politi ...

in Armenia. On 15 April 2021, the party signed a joint statement with eight other political parties calling on the President of Armenia to ensure

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

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

External links

Official website
{{European People's Party 2002 establishments in Armenia Armenian nationalism Liberal parties in Armenia Nationalist parties in Armenia Parties related to the European People's Party Political parties established in 2002 Political parties in Armenia Pro-European political parties in Armenia