GOVERNMENT
Armenians voted overwhelmingly for independence in a September 1991 referendum, followed by a presidential election in October 1991 that gave 83% of the vote to Levon Ter-Petrossian. Ter-Petrossian had been elected head of government in 1990, when the Armenian National Movement defeated the Communist Party. Ter-Petrossian was re-elected in 1996 in a disputed election. Following public demonstrations against Ter-Petrossian's policies on the predominantly ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh that is located within Azerbaijan, the President resigned under pressure in January 1998 and was replaced by Prime Minister Robert Kocharian, who was subsequently elected President in March 1998. Following the October 27, 1999 assassination in Parliament of Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsian, Parliament Speaker Karen Demirchian, and six other officials, a period of political instability ensued during which an opposition headed by elements of the former Armenian National Movement government attempted unsuccessfully to force Kocharian to resign. Riding out the unrest, Kocharian was later reelected in March 2003 in a contentious election that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the U.S. Government deemed to have fallen short of international standards.
As a result of the May 2007 parliamentary elections, 103 seats out of the 131 in the National Assembly (90 are elected on a proportional basis and 41 on a district-by-district majoritarian basis) are members of pro-government parties. The Republican Party and Prosperous Armenia formed a coalition with which the ARF Dashnaksutyun Party signed a cooperation agreement. The Heritage and Country of Law parties remain opposition parties. While in the past opposition parties tended to vote together on key legislative issues despite their philosophical differences, there has been no formal agreement among the opposition parties to date to do so.
Armenia is set to elect a new president on February 19, 2008, who will assume office in April 2008. After serving two consecutive 5-year terms, President Kocharian is constitutionally barred from seeking office a third term, and is stepping down. His hand-picked successor, Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan of the Republican Party, is widely viewed as the frontrunner in the presidential race. Former president Levon Ter-Petrossian is also a candidate. During the presidential election campaign, some opposition parties and presidential candidates have accused the government of harassing their supporters and denying them equal access to TV media.
The Government of Armenia's stated aim is to build a Western-style parliamentary democracy as the basis of its form of government. However, international observers have questioned the inherent fairness of parliamentary and presidential elections during each of the previous nationwide elections (1995, 1999, and 2003) as well as during the 2005 constitutional referendum, citing polling deficiencies, lack of cooperation by the electoral commission, poor maintenance of electoral lists, and access to polling places. The 2007 parliamentary elections, however, demonstrated an improvement over previous elections, though shortcoming remained in the procedural conduct of the elections campaign and the performance of election commissions during the vote count and tabulation. The new constitution in 2005 increased the power of the legislative branch and allows for more independence of the judiciary; in practice, however, both branches remain subject to political pressure from the executive branch, which retains considerably greater power than its counterparts in most European countries.
The government's human rights record remained poor in 2007; while there were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained. Security forces beat pretrial detainees. Impunity and corruption remained a problem. There were reports of arbitrary arrest and detention, and incarceration of individuals for political reasons. Lengthy pretrial detention remained a problem. There were limits on press freedom, as well as incidents of violence, intimidation, and self-censorship in the press. The law places some restrictions on religious freedom. Societal violence against women continued to be a problem. Trafficking of persons was a problem, which the government took only limited measures to address.
Principal
Government Officials
President--Robert Kocharian
Prime Minister--Serge Sargsyan
Foreign Minister--Vartan Oskanian
Defense Minister--Mikhael Harutyunian
Ambassador to the U.S.--Tatoul Markarian
Ambassador to the UN--Armen Martirossian
Armenia's
embassy in the U.S. is
at 2225 R Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20008; tel: 202-319-1976
or 202-319-2983; fax: 202-319-2984.
Type: Republic.
Constitution: Approved in November 2005 referendum.
Independence: 1918 (First Armenian Republic); 1991 (from Soviet Union).
Branches: Executive--president (head of state) with wider powers relative to other branches, prime minister (head of cabinet), Council of Ministers (cabinet). Legislative--unicameral National Assembly (parliament). Judicial--Constitutional Court.
Administrative subdivisions: 10 marzes (provinces) in addition to the city of Yerevan, which has the status of a province. A reform of Yerevan's status, to that of a community as required by the 2005 constitutional referendum, is currently underway and expected to occur in 2008. Once the parliament enacts legislation to change the capital's status, the mayor will no longer be appointed by the president but instead be chosen by elected city councilors.
Political parties represented in the National Assembly: Republican Party of Armenia, Prosperous Armenia, Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnaktsutyun, Country of Law (Orinats Yerkir), and the Heritage Party. Other parties include: People's Party of Armenia, National Accord Party, Republic Party, New Times Party, United Labor Party, Dashink Party, National Democratic Union, and the Armenian National Movement. In addition, there are dozens of other registered parties, many of which become active only during national campaigns, if at all.
Suffrage: Universal at 18.
