Last modified: 2002-11-16 by ivan sache
Keywords: armenian revolutionary party | armenian socialist party | dashnak |
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Originally founded in 1891 and the ruling party in pre-Soviet Armenia, the HHD retained a substantial following in the Armenian diaspora after it had been outlawed by the Bolsheviks in 1920.
Reestablished in 1991 as a nationalist and socialist opposition party, the HHD (popularly known as Dashnak) nominated the actor Sos Sargsian in the October 1991 presidential election, but he received only 4 percent of the votes. In 1992 the party struck a public chord with its criticism of the governments's conduct of the war in Nagorno-Karabagh. The government responded by alleging that the HHD leaders in exile had for many years cooperated with Soviet security authorities. In June 1994 the HHD parliamentary leader, Gagik Ovanessian, was expelled from the party for publicly criticizing its "Bolshevik" methods. In late December 1994 the HHD was suspended by presidential decree, on the grounds that it had engaged in terrorism, political assassination and drug-trafficking. It was therefore unable to contest the July 1995 election as a party. Although over 100 Dashnak candidates stood as individuals in the majoritarian component of the balloting, only one was elected. In March 1996, 31 party members were put on trial in Yerevan, charged with involvement in an abortive coup attempt at the time of the July 1995 elections.
Source: Political Handbook of the World, 1997
In the elections of 30 May 1999 HHD got 7 seats (see Fischer Weltalmanach 2002)
Jarig Bakker, 23 January 2002
The party flag is red with a yellow emblem in the middle. The flag can be seen on the party website (top right corner of that page).
Ivan Sache, 3 November 2002