Democratic Party of Armenia


The Democratic Party of Armenia is a democratic socialist political party in Armenia. It was established in 1991 by Aram Gaspar Sargsyan, the last secretary of the Soviet-era Communist Party of Armenia when the party ruled the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1920 until 1990.

History

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Armenian SSR, the ruling Communist Party of Armenia had fallen into great disfavor. Its running secretary Aram Gaspar Sargsyan dissolved the party and established the Democratic Party of Armenia, appointing himself as the first secretary of the new party. Armenian communist elements led by Ruben Tovmasyan and the old party elite, clearly unfavorable to Sargsyan's move to dissolve the original Communist Party of Armenia, founded the Armenian Communist Party shortly thereafter.
The Democratic Party of Armenia has never been part of the government of the Republic of Armenia. However, Sargsyan was a member of Parliament from 2003 to 2007. The party did not gain representation in the National Assembly following the 2007 parliamentary election because it failed to pass the 5% minimum threshold for parliamentary representation.
The party endorsed Serzh Sargsyan for the 2013 presidential election.
The party decided not to participate in the 2018 parliamentary election.
In June 2019, representatives of the Democratic Party of Armenia held a meeting with President Armen Sarkissian and discussed domestic and foreign policy issues.