By Dr. Arshavir Gundjian, C.M.
On the broad panorama of the history of our national political life, the birth of the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party (ADL or “Ramgavar”) on October 1, 1921, occupies a significant place. This month we mark its 103rd anniversary.
Starting with the crisis-filled years before 1921, when the very existence of the Armenian people was threatened by genocide, then the difficult years of the establishment of the Soviet system, major revolutions and world war, and finally the three decades of completely new challenges following the reestablishment of the independence of Armenia, the Armenian people, in their homeland as well as throughout a newly created global diaspora, lived and continues to live through exceptional challenges.
For any self-aware people, and especially for the Armenian people which found itself in such difficult conditions, the formation of political parties was a necessity. Under these circumstances, the ADL was born through the union of four already existing parties. It is noteworthy that one of those four was the Armenagan Party, which was created in 1885 in Van, as the first political party in Armenian history, so that the ADL in turn can be considered today to be the first and oldest continuously operating Armenian political party.
Role and Achievements
With justifiable pride based on demonstrated facts, we can note that from the very first day of its creation, the ADL has considered its highest goal to dedicate all of its organizational and publicity resources exclusively to the difficult work of pursuing and protecting the highest interests of the Armenian people and the Armenian homeland. It placed the pursuit of its own interests as an organization in a secondary position among its priorities.