NAGORNO KARABAKH ELECTS PRESIDENT TODAY
Regnum, Russia
July 19 2007
Fourth presidential election, the first one after adopting the
constitution, have started today in Nagortno Karabakh. Voting started
at 08:00 a.m. local time at 276 polling stations in the NKR.
The Karabakh people will have to choose between five candidates:
lecturer Vanya Avanesyan, MP Armen Abgaryan, Deputy Foreign minister
Masis Mailyan, leader of the NKR Communist Party Hrant Melkumyan,
and former head of the National Security Service Bako Saakyan. All
the candidates apart from Communist Party leader Hrant Melkumyan,
were nominated under civil initiatives.
Overall, there are 91,166 eligible voters in the republic. Eight
territorial election commissions, 276 polling stations were formed in
the NKR. One polling station is organized in Yerevan, at the permanent
mission of the NKR in Armenia, for Nagorno Karabakh citizens, who
are in Armenia on the election day.
On July 17, at midnight, the election campaign that started on June
19 was officially suspended in the republic. 100 journalists were
registered to cover the election; 50 of them are foreign reporters.
47 observers from 14 organizations will monitor the election, 39
of them represent international institutions or come from Russia,
the USA, European countries, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transdnestr.