Armenia: Vote 2007 . Parties & Players

Republican Party of Armenia: Ruling Party | Ideology-Driven

Founded in 1990 by a group of nationalists led by dissident Ashot Navasardian, the Republican Party of Armenia is the country's ruling party, with 39 of the incumbent parliament's 131 seats. Its official ideology is the early 20th century concept of "tseghakron" (roughly translated as "nation-religion"), which holds that the Armenian national identity and state should carry religious significance for all ethnic Armenians.

In 1998, after the death of Navasardian, a large group of veterans from the war with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh joined the Republican Party. They were led by Vazgen Sarkisian, a former Armenian defense minister who later became the party leader and prime minister. Four months after his appointment as premier, Sarkisian was murdered in parliament. Following the death of Prime Minister Andranik Markarian in March 2007, Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian, who had joined the RPA just a year previously, became both party leader and, on April 4, 2007, prime minister.

With time, the ideological incentive for joining the party has diminished. It is seen today as a "party of power."

A large number of Republican Party members are state officials at various levels, including at least seven state ministers and many governors. In this sense, Prime Minister Markarian's death dealt a strong blow to the party, at least in the short term. The late premier was valued for his ability to build alliances between the party's disparate parts.

Surveys put popular support for the Republican Party at 10 to 16 percent of voters. The party itself is bent on retaining the largest faction in parliament - a goal also shared by the Prosperous Armenia Party. Galust Sahakian, head of the parliament faction said they will even seek qualified majority.

Elections Presence: 110 people on the party list for proportional voting; 26 individual candidates nominated for first-past-the-post districts.
Slogan: "Let's rely on our minds and our arms."
Website: http://www.hhk.am
Address: 2 Melik-Adamyan St., Yerevan 0010
Tel: (374-10) 58-00-31, 56-21-51, 56-42-97

Pro-Government:
Prosperous Armenia Party
Armenian Revolutionary Federation
United Labor Party

Opposition:
Country of Law Party
People's Party of Armenia
National Unity Party
Republic Party
Heritage Party