People's Party of Armenia (Hayastani Zhoghovrdakan Kusaktsutiun): Personality-Driven
The party was founded in 1998 by Karen Demirchian, Armenia's popular Soviet-era leader who went on to become parliamentary speaker. After Demirchian's death in a 1999 parliament assassination, his son, Stepan, became head of the People's Party of Armenia. The party has six members in parliament.
The party, once one of the largest in Armenia, has lost much of its popularity since the late 1990s. Surveys put its support among voters at 2.5 - 3.0 percent. It claims some 30,000 members.
Many analysts attribute this decline in support to the party's inability to deliver on promises to force a change in government after the 2003 presidential and parliamentary elections, both widely viewed as rigged. Party leader Stepan Demirchian was President Kocharian's main rival in the 2003 presidential vote, but lost in a run-off, according to official results.
The People's Party of Armenia refused to join a coalition of opposition parties for the 2007 parliamentary vote, a decision that some observers describe as a missed opportunity to consolidate Armenia's highly fragmented opposition.
Elections Presence: 64 individuals on the party list for election by proportional voting; two individual candidates for election in first-past-the-post districts.
Slogan: NA
Website: http://www.ppa.am
Address: 7 Parpetsi St., Yerevan
Tel: (374-10) 53-15-01
Pro-Government:
Republican Party of Armenia
Prosperous Armenia Party
Armenian Revolutionary Federation
United Labor Party
Opposition:
Country of Law Party
National Unity Party
Republic Party
Heritage Party
National Democratic Union
Armenian Opposition Divided Ahead of Election
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav030807b.shtml
Armenian Opposition Seeks to Regroup After Constitutional Referendum Setback (2005)
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav121505.shtml
Armenia's Draft Constitution Divides Opposition
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav080305a.shtml
Armenia's Opposition Leaders Seek US Support (2005)
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav033005.shtml
Armenian Opposition Offers Government Deal on Constitutional Reform (2005)
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/civilsociety/articles/eav012705.shtml
Armenian Opposition Vows More Protests Despite Government Crackdown (2004)
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav041404.shtml
Government Forcibly Breaks Up Opposition Protest (2004)
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/civilsociety/articles/eav041304.shtml
Armenia Braces for Political Upheaval (2004)
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav040104a.shtml
Armenian Authorities Carry Out Preemptive Roundup of Opposition Activists (2004)
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/rights/articles/eav040604.shtml
Armenian Opposition Mounts Fresh Attack Against President (2004)
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav020604.shtml
Parliament Attack Trial Sparks Renewed Controversy (2003)
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav082003.shtml
Armenia Poll Sparks Domestic Outcry, Western Criticism (2003)
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/rights/eav030703_pr.shtml
Armenia Faces Presidential Run-Off Amid Ballot-Stuffing Complaints (2003)
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav022003.shtml
