Orinats Yerkir

Orinats Yerkir (Armenian: Օրինաց երկիր, literally translated as "Rule of Law", formerly Armenian Renaissance (Armenian: Հայկական վերածնունդ, abbreviated as ՕԵԿ, OEK)), is a political party operating in Armenia since its foundation in 1998 by Artur Baghdasaryan, who is leading the party up to now.

Orinats Yerkir

Օրինաց երկիր
LeaderArtur Baghdasaryan
Founded1998
HeadquartersYerevan
IdeologyLiberal conservatism
Christian democracy
Pro-Europeanism
Political positionCentre-right
European affiliationEuropean People's Party (observer)
International affiliationCentrist Democrat International[1]
Colours  gold
  blue
Website
http://www.oek.am

Party History

The party's name is translated into English in a number of ways, including Country of Law[2] and Rule of Law.[3] 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.[4]

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.[5] 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.[6]

The party initially refused to participate in the 2018 Armenian parliamentary election because the National Assembly failed to pass amendments to electoral law,[7] yet days later decided to register with the country's CEC in order to participate in the elections.[8] 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."[9] 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.[10]

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.[11]

Electoral history
Parliamentary elections
Year
Party-list
Constituency /total
Total seats
+/–
Votes
%
Seats /total
1999
56,807
5.3%
4 /56
2 /75
6 /131
2003
148,381
12.9%
12 /56
7 /75
19 /131
 13
2007
95,324
7.1%
16 /90
0 /41
9 /131
 10
2012
83,123
5.5%
5 /90
1 /41
5 /131
 4
2017
58,265
3.7%
0 /105
—
0 /105
 5
2018[12][13]
12,389
0.99%
0 /132
—
0 /132

See also

References
  1. Centrist Democrat International Archived 27 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Armenia To Hold First Major Election Since Power Change". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  3. "Rule of Law party 'rules out' cooperation with pro-Kocharyan team". www.tert.am. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  4. "RA CEC DECLARED SERGE SARGSIAN ARMENIA’S PRESIDENT", defacto.am, 25 February 2008.
  5. ""Միավորված հայեր" կուսակցությունը միաձուլվել է "Հայկական վերածնունդ միավորման" մեջ". Armtimes.com (in Armenian). Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  6. ""Հայկական վերածնունդ" կուսակցությունը որոշել է միավորվել "Օրինաց երկիր" կուսակցությանը". armenpress.am (in Armenian). Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  7. "Newspaper: Orinats Yerkir party not to participate in early elections". news.am. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  8. "Eleven Political Parties Register For Armenia's Parliamentary Elections". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  12. https://www.azatutyun.am/a/29647254.html
  13. https://www.tert.am/am/news/2018/12/10/parliament/2869067
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