Country of Law Party Leader, Former Parliamentary Speaker (2003-2006)



A lawyer by training, 38-year-old Artur Baghdasarian first entered politics in 1992 when he joined the nationalist Armenian National Movement, then Armenia's ruling party. In the early 1990s, he was deputy head of Yerevan's Shengavit district, a constituency which he has represented in parliament since 1995.

In 1998 Baghdasarian founded the Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) Party. The party has had parliamentary factions since 1999, and became part of the ruling coalition following the 2003 parliamentary elections. The party held the ministries of culture and urban development; Baghdasarian himself was elected chairman, or speaker, of the National Assembly. In May 2006 he resigned from this post after President Kocharian made it clear that Baghdasarian's calls for closer ties with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and European Union are not shared by the country's leadership. He has since presented himself as an opposition leader, while avoiding strong criticism of the authorities.

Many members, including some party leaders, left Orinats Yerkir after the split with Kocharian, yet the party and Baghdasarian himself, a charismatic speaker, remain influential. Baghdasarian is frequently presented as a populist for his promises to voters about increased pensions, job creation and criticism of privatization, among other topics.

In late April, a heavier charge was directed at the opposition leader: treason. President Kocharian made the charge after the publication of excerpts from a conversation Baghdasarian had with a senior British diplomat in which he warned that the ruling Republican Party planned widescale vote fraud and urged the European Union to criticize the government for the election's conduct. The remarks were secretly recorded and released to the pro-government Russian-language Golos Armenii (Voice of Armenia) paper.

Baghdasarian's party has contended that the recording was part of a campaign to damage Country of Law's chances at the polls.



Pro-Government:
Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian
Gagik Tsarukian
Vahan Hovhannisian

Opposition:
Stepan Demirchian
Artashes Geghamian
Aram Sarkisian
Raffi Hovannisian



Armenian Opposition Leader Hit by "Treason" Scandal
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav050207.shtml

Armenian Opposition Divided Ahead of Election
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav030807b.shtml

Coalition Breaks Up, But Government Remains Stable (2006)
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav052206.shtml

Armenian Speaker at Odds with Government Over NATO Membership (2006)
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav050506.shtml

Armenians Voting in Tense Constitutional Referendum: RFE/RL Partner Post (2005)
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/civilsociety/articles/pp112705.shtml

Armenian Leader Unites Top Allies in New Coalition Government (2003)
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav061303a.shtml