Yerevan?The 7th Congress of the Heritage Party convened today at the Government Hall to formalize, on the eve of parliamentary elections, a public report on five years of the party’s parliamentary and extra-parliamentary activities, and to adopt a resolution titled “Resolution for a New Armenia.” The invitees included rank-and-file citizens and intellectuals, members of the media, ambassadors, as well as leaders of Armenia’s major political parties. The Congress kicked off with reception marking the 20th anniversary of Armenia’s accession to the United Nations. On that historic day in 1992 Raffi K. Hovannisian, independent Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs, raised the Armenian flag before the UN headquarters in New York. Twenty years later, an ocean and a continent away, Hovannisian spoke to his countrymen about the unfinished symbolism of that tricolor. Remarks were also made by acting UN Resident Coordinator, UNHCR representative Armenia Damtew Dessalegne. The reception was followed by the opening of the 7th Congress of the Heritage Party. Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau member Vahan Hovhannisyan, leader of the Free Democrats Party Khachatur Kokobelyan, and former National Assembly Vice Chairman Karapet Rubinyan were among the guests who appeared before the overflowing government hall to voice their solidarity with Heritage. Heritage MP Zarouhi Postanjian was first among her party to take the floor. She spoke passionately about human rights and electoral justice, and then introduced Hovannisian. Raffi Hovannisian, the chairman of the Party Board, assumed the floor to deliver his vision for the future of the Republic. “Together we shall achieve a new Armenia,” he said. “And our message we shall take everywhere, from the citizens of our glorious capital to the most distant and deaf villages of our land.” Hovannisian also welcomed the collaboration of the Heritage and the Free Democrats parties, while stressing the importance of continued cooperation with the ARF, both inside the National Assembly and “beyond those useless and wretched gates.” He spoke about finding common ground with the Armenian National Congress and also with other powers represented in the nation’s parliament. Party vice chairman Ruben Hakobyan reported on the Board’s activities in the past term. The leader of Heritage’s parliamentary faction Stepan Safaryan spoke about the activities of the faction’s five years in the legislature. Addresses were also made by the head of the party’s Yerevan chapter Susanna Muradyan, board member Susanna Barkhudaryan, special projects coordinator Lusine Petrosyan, and Heritage youth activist Gevorg Karapetyan. The Congress concluded its session by adopting its “Resolution for a New Armenia.” On the eve of parliamentary elections, the resolution enshrines the struggle for a new Republic—the brave generation-transforming mission to create an unprecedented government of, by, and for its citizens.

---