Civil Contract: New political party founded in Armenia

The Armenian civic group Civil Contract on Saturday announced the launch of a namesake political party which will be eligible to run in republic-wide elections.

The members unanimously adopted a charter, approving the structure of an oversight body. Arayik Harutyunyan was elected as the board's chairman.

In a speech before the voting, opposition MP Nikol Pashinyan (Armenian National Congress) said their decision-making procedures would be based upon collegial principles, without any member acting as a super leader.

Pashinyan added that the party intends to run in all future local government, parliamentary and presidential elections.

“After discussions that lasted about two years, we have gathered together here to make the important decision of founding a party,” he said.

“We do not intend to remain in the opposition for long. In the foreseeable future, [Civil  Contact] will aspire for power on the people’s behalf,” he added.