The politics of Armenia take place in the framework of the parliamentary representative democratic republic of Armenia,whereby the President of Armenia is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Armenia the head of government,and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the President and the Government. Legislative power is vested in both the Government and Parliament.
Vazgen Zaveni Sargsyan was an Armenian military commander and politician. He was the first Defence Minister of Armenia from 1991 to 1992 and then from 1995 to 1999. He served as Armenia's Prime Minister from 11 June 1999 until his assassination on 27 October of that year. He rose to prominence during the mass movement for the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia in the late 1980s and led Armenian volunteer groups during the early clashes with Azerbaijani forces. Appointed defence minister by President Levon Ter-Petrosyan soon after Armenia's independence from the Soviet Union in late 1991,Sargsyan became the most prominent commander of Armenian forces during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. In different positions,he regulated the military operations in the war area until 1994,when a ceasefire was reached ending the war with Armenian forces controlling almost all of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts.
Robert Sedraki Kocharyan is an Armenian politician. He served as the President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from 1994 to 1997 and Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh from 1992 to 1994. He served as the second President of Armenia between 1998 and 2008 and as Prime Minister of Armenia from 1997 to 1998.
Levon Hakobi Ter-Petrosyan,also known by his initials LTP,is an Armenian politician who served as the first President of Armenia from 1991 until his resignation in 1998.
Serzh Azati Sargsyan is an Armenian politician who served as the third President of Armenia from 2008 to 2018,and twice as the Prime Minister of Armenia from 2007 to 2008 and again from 17 to 23 April 2018,when he was forced to resign in the 2018 Armenian revolution.
Human rights in Armenia tend to be better than those in most former Soviet republics and have drawn closer to acceptable standards,especially economically. Still,there are several considerable problems.
Prosperous Armenia Party,is a conservative political party in Armenia. It was founded by businessman Gagik Tsarukyan on 30 April 2004,when the constituent congress of the party took place.
Seyran Musheghi Ohanyan is an Armenian general and politician currently serving as a deputy in the National Assembly of Armenia. He served as Defence Minister of Armenia from 14 April 2008 until 3 October 2016. A native of Nagorno-Karabakh,he participated in both the first and second Karabakh wars,and from 2000 to 2007 served as Defence Minister of the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh.
A series of anti-government riots took place in Armenia following presidential elections held on 19 February 2008. Protests broke out in the Armenian capital Yerevan,organized by supporters of presidential candidate and former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan and other opposition leaders.
Jirair Simoni Sefilian is a Lebanese-born Armenian military commander and political activist. During the First Nagorno-Karabakh War,he commanded the Shushi special military battalion,playing a significant role during the Battle of Shusha. From 1997 to 1998 Sefilian was a Brigade Commander in the Artsakh Defence Army.
Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan is an Armenian politician serving as the prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018.
Presidential elections were held in Armenia on 19 February and 5 March 2003. No candidate received a majority in the first round of the election with the incumbent President Robert Kocharyan winning slightly under 50% of the vote. Therefore,a second round was held and Kocharyan defeated Stepan Demirchyan with official results showed him winning just over 67% of the vote. However,both the opposition and international observers said that the election had seen significant amounts of electoral fraud and the opposition did not recognise the results of the election.
National Security Service of Armenia is a state agency of Armenia,responsible for national security and intelligence and providing border troops,cryptographers,and the personal security to the Prime Minister of Armenia.
Vano Smbati Siradeghyan was an Armenian politician and writer. He held several high-ranked positions in the 1990s. He served as Minister of Internal Affairs from 1992 and 1996 and as Mayor of Yerevan from 1996 to 1998. After President Levon Ter-Petrosyan's resignation in February 1998,criminal charges were filed against Siradeghyan. He disappeared in April 2000 and was wanted by Interpol until his death in 2021 at the age of 74. Today,Siradeghyan is seen as one of the most influential and controversial figures of post-Soviet Armenia.
Snap parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 20 June 2021. The elections had initially been scheduled for 9 December 2023,but were called earlier due to a political crisis following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War and an alleged attempted coup in February 2021.
The 2020−2021 Armenian protests were a series of protests that began following the Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement on 10 November 2020. After Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that he signed an agreement to cede Armenian-occupied territories in Azerbaijan and put an end to six weeks of hostilities over the Nagorno-Karabakh region,thousands of people took to the streets,and hundreds stormed the Parliament building in the capital Yerevan. Protests continued throughout November,with demonstrations in Yerevan and other cities demanding the resignation of Nikol Pashinyan.
The 2021 Armenian political crisis was an alleged military coup attempt by the Armed Forces of Armenia led by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces Onik Gasparyan against the government of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Pashinyan accused Gasparyan and 40 other high-ranking military officers of attempting a coup after they published a statement calling for Pashinyan's resignation on 25 February 2021.
The Homeland Salvation Movement was an Armenian political alliance,consisting of several opposition political parties,led by Vazgen Manukyan.
Armenia Alliance is an Armenian political alliance. It was founded in 2021 and is currently led by former President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan.
Ishkhan Vachiki Saghatelyan is an Armenian politician who currently serves as a vice president of the National Assembly of Armenia and as the chair of the Supreme Council of Armenia of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF). He served as the governor of Gegharkunik province from June 1,2018 until October 3,2018. Saghatelyan was the lead coordinator of the Homeland Salvation Movement,which led protests calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan after the end of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.
