The Newly Elected Parliament Is for Active Relations Between Armenia and the Diaspora

• 04.13.2017, 11:52
• Lilia Amirkhanyan
•  "Insight" Analytical Center ,  Armenia,  Diaspora

It is already known that four political forces will be represented in the National Assembly, among them the Republican Party of Armenia, "Tsarukyan" Alliance, "Yelk" Alliance and Armenian Revolutionary Party - four political parties that before the elections in their programs presented their ideas and steps needed to be taken on the important issues for Armenia. Let us consider the Armenia-Diaspora relations in the context of the approaches of the parties that passed to the parliament.

The party that got most of the votes, ​​the Republican Party’s idea is to get all the Armenian communities of different countries together with Armenia. There is a clear indication in the party's election program "to make Armenia a favorable country for business and for our compatriots." The party considers the constant work in this direction the way of achieving a progress.

"Tsarukyan" alliance in order to develop relations with Diaspora stands for establishment of special government programs that will be offered to the Diaspora by diplomatic institutions, the traditional Diaspora and other organizations.

As for the Armenian Revolutionary Party approaches, their ideas are based on active involvement of the Diaspora in the internal processes. At the same time, the factor increasing the degree of participation, according to the party's approach, is the improved situation in the country, which will facilitate their repatriation.

The fourth power that will be represented in the Parliament, "Yelk" alliance, perhaps is the most creative one in terms of cooperation with the Diaspora. The alliance gives an institutional solution to the all above-mentioned proposals and ideas, suggesting to create a second chamber of Parliament. The new Chamber, according to the party's program, will be consisted of representatives of the Diaspora, who will be elected in their own communities.

Thus, considering the brief descriptions of all four parties’ approaches, we can say that the new Parliament is in favor of Diaspora's participation in the internal affairs of Armenia. And given the fact that there will be forces in the new parliament that have a clear position on materializing Diaspora’s participation, we are likely to see quite a new level of the Armenia-Diaspora partnership in the next five years.