Karabakh elections cause controversy outside, but are welcomed inside. 3

The Elections held in the self-declared Nagorno- Karabakh Republic that took place on 19 July stirred considerable controversy outside, but in the territory itself they were welcomed by both winners and losers as an example of the determination of the voters to establish democratic rule.

There were 98,909 voters eligible to vote, according to the territory’s Central Elections Commission. Of these 72,833 actually voted, resulting in a turnout of 73.4%. Incumbent President Bako Sahakyan was re-elected having received 47,085 votes (66.7%), whilst the main opposition candidate Vitaly Balasanyan received 22966 votes (32.2%). The third candidate Arkady Soghomonyan received 594 votes which is 0.8 percent of total votes. More…

In Karabakh voters head to the polls this week to determine 5th president of the territory

With the campaign period wrapped up (as of midnight on 17 July), residents of the self declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic will have one day of reflection before going to the polls from 8:00am to 8:00pm on 19 July to determine the fifth president of the contested territory. Results are set to be announced on 22 July.

They will have to choose between three candidates: incumbent President Bako Sahakyan; former Deputy Defence Minister Vitali Balasanyan; and Deputy Director of Academic Affairs of the Stepanakert campus of the State Agrarian University of Armenia, Arkadi Soghomonyan.

Valeri Khachatryan, the fourth candidate, submitted a request to formally withdraw from the race to the Central Election Committee on Monday 9 July. More…

Campaigning intensifying in Presidential contest in Nagorno-Karabakh.

With less than two weeks until the elections, all four presidential candidates have stepped up campaign activities in the self declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR).

This past week saw incumbent president and presidential candidate Bako Sahakayan touring the NKR regions between official duties and expounding the improvements and developments implemented by his government. He started his tour in Kashatagh region, continuing onto Martakert by the end of the week. Pointing to infrastructure repairs made since his government took power five years ago, the president also made clear that much work was still needed and committed himself to continuing to improve infrastructure and social services provisions if re-elected. While in the northern part of Kashatagh region he promised to focus on developing the local economy. More…

Presidential Election Campaign underway in the Nagorno-Karabakh 4

A monument that has come to symbolisa Armenian heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh

Campaigning began on June 20th in the run-up to presidential elections in the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) scheduled for July 19th, 2012.

The Head of the Central Election Commission, R. Petrosyan, convened a meeting on June 15th in which he announced the candidates and procedures for the upcoming presidential elections.

In accordance with the electoral code of the territory, 274 electoral districts have been established as well as one polling station in Yerevan, Armenia, to enable Karabakh residents, living there temporarily, to vote. According to the Armenian press, there are in total 97, 664 eligible voters. More…

Ashot Ghoulian, Speaker of Parliament in the self declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

“Next month’s Karabakh elections will be the best elections held in the South Caucasus.”

The Chairman of Parliament of the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was in the United Kingdom last week as a guest of the British Armenian Parliamentary Group. Ashot Ghoulian also visited Oxford University where he met a group of students and academics to discuss the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. Speaking at Manchester-Harris College at the invitation of the Oxford Armenia Society Ghoulian answered questions regarding the forthcoming Presidential elections in Nagorno-Karabakh due on 19 July. More…