Orinats Yerkir


Orinats Yerkir, is a political party operating in Armenia since its foundation in 1998 by Artur Baghdasaryan, who is leading the party up to now.

Party History

The party's name is translated into English in a number of ways, including Country of Law and Rule of Law. The party participated in elections for the first time during the 1999 Armenian parliamentary election, winning a total of 6 seats in the National Assembly.
Following the 2003 elections, the party won 19 seats. After the 2007 Armenian parliamentary elections, it obtained just 9 seats in the National Assembly.
In the February 2008 presidential election, Baghdasaryan was the party's candidate; he obtained third place, according to the final official results, with 17.7% of the vote.
After the 2012 Armenian parliamentary election, the party won 6 seats in the National Assembly.
In 2017, the party was renamed "Armenian Renaissance" after the creation of a political alliance with the Unified Armenians Party, led by Ruben Avagyan. Following the 2017 Armenian parliamentary election, the alliance lost all political representation in the National Assembly, receiving just 3.72% of the popular vote. The party then decided to restore its original name during a meeting held on February 13, 2018.
The party initially refused to participate in the 2018 Armenian parliamentary election because the National Assembly failed to pass amendments to electoral law, yet days later decided to register with the country's CEC in order to participate in the elections. It received just 0.99% of the votes. As this was lower than the 5% minimum threshold required, the party failed to gain any representation in the National Assembly.

Ideology

During an interview in 2007, party leader, Artur Baghdasaryan stated that "Armenia's membership in the European Union should be one of the key priorities of our country's present and future foreign policy, as EU membership will open new avenues for Armenia." Baghdasaryan further stated that in order to begin accession negotiations with the EU, Armenia would have to strengthen its democracy and complete legal, social, economic and political reforms in order to meet European standards, just as the Baltic states have done.
The party is mostly pro-Western but also supports maintaining positive relations with Russia. The party additionally supports the goals and initiatives of the EU's Eastern Partnership program.

Electoral history