Armenian Communist Party

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Armenian Communist Party
Hayastani Komunistakan Kusaktsutyun
Leader Tachat Sargsyan
Founded 29 July 1991 (registered)[2]
Headquarters Yerevan
Newspaper Hayastani Komunist
Membership 18,000 (self-claimed)[3]
Ideology Communism
Political position Left-wing to Far-left
International affiliation International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties
Continental affiliation Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Politics of Armenia
Political parties
Elections

The Armenian Communist Party (Armenian: Հայաստանի կոմունիստական կուսակցություն, ՀԿԿ; Hayastani Komunistakan Kusaktsutyun, HKK) is a communist party in Armenia. It considers itself the successor of the Communist Party of Armenia of the Soviet Union. It is the main communist party in Armenia and claims 18,000 (mostly elderly) members.[3] HKK publishes Hayastani Komunist and Pravda Armenii.

It should not be confused with the historical Communist Party of Armenia during the Soviet era, nor with Armenian Communist Party of the new independent Republic of Armenia and its follow-up Democratic Party of Armenia.

Leaders

The title of the party leader is First Secretary.

Ideology

The party widely uses the Flag of the Armenian SSR as its symbol[1]

The party has was described as "staunchly pro-Russian" by the US-funded RFE/RL in 2002.[4] In 2011, party members marched through downtown Yerevan towards the square named after Stepan Shahumyan, an early Armenian communist revolutionary. They held banners reading “Socialism”, “Long Live the Communist Party of Armenia”, “Down with Capitalism”, “Forever with Russia”. It leader, Ruben Tovmasyan, stated: "History has proved that Armenia cannot live without Russia. The moment the Russian flag stops flying in Gyumri [a reference to Russian troops stationed in Armenia] Armenia will start moving towards its end as the enemy will be quick to attack us. The Communist Party of Armenia has always been in favor of consolidation among fraternal peoples."[5] At a 2006 rally the slogan was "Down with America, Always with Russia."[6]

The party supported the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU)[7] and in 2013 welcomed Armenia's accession into the EEU as a "prelude to the restoration of the Soviet Union."[8]

In the 1999 parliamentary election the party's programme included:[9]

  • Armenia's transformation into a parliamentary republic
  • rejection of Western-style market reforms
  • socialism that embraced a mixed economy, including private property
  • close ties with Russia
  • Nagorno-Karabakh’'s recognition as a subject of international law
  • Armenia's accession into the Russia-Belarus Union (the party did not explicitly call for the recreation of the USSR)

Support base and dlection results

The party remained a significant political force in the 1990s under its charismatic leader Sergey Badalyan, who died in 1999.[8] In a 2004 For Official Use Only telegram on Armenian political parties, US Ambassador in Armenia John Ordway wrote that the party has "fewer than 50,000 members country-wide (most of them quite elderly)" and that it "is no longer especially influential."[2]

It has contested in every parliamentary election, but has failed to pass the 5% threshold since 2003.

Parliamentary elections
Year
Party-list
Constituency /total
Total seats
+/–
Votes
%
Seats /total
1990
No party-list system
136 /259
136 /259
Steady
1995
93,353
12.4%
6 /40
4 /150
10 /190
Decrease 126
1999
130,161
12%
8 /56
2 /75
10 /131
Steady
2003
24.991
2.1%
0/56
0 /75
0 /131
Decrease 10
2007
8,792
0.7%
0 /90
0 /41
0 /131
Steady
2012
15,899
1.45%
0 /90
0 /41
0 /131
Steady

References

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