Republican Party of Armenia Հայաստանի Հանրապետական Կուսակցություն | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Serzh Sargsyan |
| Spokesperson | Eduard Sharmazanov |
| Deputy Leader | Vigen Sargsyan |
| Founder | Ashot Navasardyan |
| Founded | 2 April 1990 |
| Split from | Union for National Self-Determination |
| Preceded by | Army of Independence |
| Headquarters | Yerevan |
| Membership | 140,000 (claimed, 2008)[1] |
| Ideology | Big tent |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| National affiliation | Homeland Salvation Movement (2020–2021) I Have Honor Alliance (2021) |
| European affiliation | European People's Party (observer) |
| International affiliation | Centrist Democrat International |
| National Assembly[2] | 4 / 107 |
| Website | |
| hhk.am | |
The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA, Armenian: Հայաստանի Հանրապետական Կուսակցություն, ՀՀԿ; Hayastani Hanrapetakan Kusaktsutyun, HHK) is a national-conservative political party in Armenia led by the third president of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan.
It was the first political party in independent Armenia to be founded (April 2, 1990) and registered (May 14, 1991). It is the largest party of the right-wing in Armenia,[3] and claims to have had 140,000 members at its heyday.[1] It was the ruling party of Armenia from 1999 to 2018. After the latest parliamentary elections in June 2021, the party entered parliament as a part of the opposition I Have Honor Alliance.
The Economist magazine has described the RPA as a "typical post-Soviet 'party of power' mainly comprising senior government officials, civil servants, and wealthy business people dependent on government connections."[4] It has been described by political commentators as essentially lacking political ideology.[5][6]
- ^ a b Leader Admits Tensions In Ruling Party, Armenia Liberty (RFE/RL), October 28, 2008.
- ^ "National Assembly of Armenia | Official Web Site | parliament.am". parliament.am.
- ^ Shubladze, Rati (4 December 2018). "Armenian snap elections seen as the final chapter of the Velvet Revolution". Europe Elects. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ^ Armenia's murky politics, The Economist, April 11, 2007.
- ^ Iskandaryan, Alexander (23 May 2012). "Armenian Elections: Technology vs. Ideology" (PDF). Caucasus Analytical Digest. ETH Zurich: 3.
Both major parties in the Armenian parliament [Republican Party and Prosperous Armenia] represent elite groups. With almost no ideology to speak of, they are catch-all parties, a phenomenon becoming typical in the modern world.
- ^ Azadian, Edmond Y. (14 March 2014). "When Ideology Meets Reality". Armenian Mirror-Spectator. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
...the ruling Republican Party being most devoid of any political philosophy...