15 April 2020, 11:25
Political analysts question legitimacy of NKR election
Violations at the first round of the presidential election held in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) define the illegitimacy of all subsequent election processes, political analysts assert.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 14, NKR residents voted at the second round of the presidential election; the process was monitored by more than 450 observers – local ones and those from Armenia, but not a single international observer. The total voter turnout was 44.9 percent, the Central Election Commission (CEC) has announced. Residents of Stepanakert have noted the voters' passivity at the second round of election.
The second round ballot papers contained two candidates: Araik Arutyunyan, a former Prime Minister, and Masis Mailyan, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of the NKR. However, Mr Mailyan urged his supporters to boycott the election due to coronavirus threat; and he himself did not take part in the voting.
Taking into account the violations during the first round, we can state that the issue of the legitimacy of the second round was topical even before the voting, said Tigran Grigoryan, an independent political analyst from the NKR.
"Elections in the conditions when the majority of the population is either unable or unwilling to go to the polls raise a serious question about the legitimacy of the future authorities of Artsakh (NKR) from the moral, legal and political points of view," Mr Grigoryan told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 14, 2020 at 11:15 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Alvard Grigoryan, Tigran Petrosyan Source: CK correspondents
