The chairman of the NKR Electoral Commission, Sergey Nasibyan says Karabakh
parliament polls to be one step forward

Arminfo, Yerevan
12 Mar 05

STEPANAKERT

“Neighbouring Azerbaijan considers it to be its task to kick up fuss
over the legitimacy of every elections held in the Nagornyy Karabakh
Republic [NKR],” the chairman of the NKR Electoral Commission, Sergey
Nasibyan, has told an Arminfo correspondent commenting on the recent
statement of an Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry official, Tahir Tagizada.

Sergey Nasibyan noted that the Karabakh Armenians had solved their
issue on the basis of international law long ago by establishing a de
facto independent state in 1991, which regularly holds presidential,
parliamentary and local government elections.

“Many local and international observers have repeatedly noted the
higher level of organization of elections in Nagornyy Karabakh
compared to Azerbaijan,” the NKR Electoral Commission chairman said.

He said that the forthcoming parliamentary elections on 19 June were
the fourth since the gaining of independence by the republic and that
they would become one more step forward on the way to strengthening
the statehood and democracy.

Sergey Nasibyan described as groundless the Azerbaijani side’s
concerns that the elections could complicate the peaceful settlement
of the Karabakh conflict. “I would like to call on the Azerbaijani
authorities not to be engaged in self-deception but to search ways to
reconcile the two neighbouring peoples,” the NKR Electoral Commission
chairman said.