KARABAKH STAGES FIRST "GENUINE" LEADERSHIP CONTEST
By Dmitry Avaliani, Karine Ohanian and Akhra Smyr in Nagorny Karabakh (CRS No. 403 25-Jul-07)
Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
July 25 2007
Unrecognised territory holds election in defiance of international
criticism.
Nagorny Karabakh elected a new leader, former military commander Bako
Sahakian, on July 19, in a ballot condemned as illegitimate by the
outside world but seen by Karabakh Armenians as the first genuine
leadership contest in the region.
Sahakian, the official candidate, received the backing of both
pro-government and opposition parties, winning 85 per cent of the vote.
Before his victory, Sahakian, 46, was little known to the wider
public in the entity, whose self-declared independence has not been
recognised by the international community.
In the 1991-4 Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Karabakh, he was
a military commander, then became interior minister and head of the
Karabakh’s security service.
Sahakian’s supporters maintain that despite his career in the security
services he is a democratically-minded man, who has served several
times as an intermediary between government and opposition.
His election campaign rested on the assertion that he was a simple
honest man who would respond to the complaints of ordinary citizens.
Sahakian faced four other candidates, only one of whom, deputy foreign
minister Masis Mailian, mounted a credible campaign, ending up with
12 per cent of the vote.
Despite working for the local government and although the two
opposition parties in parliament supported Sahakian, Mailian became
in effect the opposition candidate, appealing to those in society
who were discontented with the governing elite. His main base support
was the professional intelligentsia in the capital, Stepanakert.
Mailian’s supporters said that Sahakian depended too closely on
outgoing leader Arkady Ghukasian, who backed his protege openly on
television, at public meetings and in interviews.
"Whatever post he’s held, he’s been my best and most reliable
colleague," Ghukasian told IWPR.
The backers of the new president say that he is determined to fight
corruption and that he benefited from a wide base of support that
stretched beyond government.
"Just give him time," said a young man named Alexander Harutiunian.
"We’ll speak in a year and then you’ll see!"
"Karabakhis believe that Karabakh needs a strong hand and that Sahakian
is capable of playing that role," said political analyst David Babayan,
explaining his emphatic victory.
The electoral programmes of the two main candidates barely differed
from one another. Both share the view that Karabakh should be
recognised as an independent state and represented at peace talks
with the Baku government.
During the election campaign, Sahakian talked mainly about social
issues and made promises to help young married couples and large
families. "I campaigned on the slogan ‘Together for the sake of
Karabakh’ and I intend to stick to this principle in future," he said.
Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying that the
elections "contradict the constitution of Azerbaijan, the norms and
principles of international law and have no legal force".
The statement said that the poll could only be regarded as legitimate
if "the Azerbaijani population expelled from [Nagorny Karabakh]
takes part in them".
The Azerbaijani authorities also complained to the Russian parliament,
the State Duma, for allowing a parliamentary deputy to monitor the
polls as an observer. And it warned the Russian television broadcaster
RTR, which ran a report on the elections, that a continuation of its
license to broadcast in Azerbaijan would depend on "mutual respect
by television channels of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan
and Russia".
Karabakh Armenians reject the accusations that the election was
undemocratic.
Defeated candidate Mailian said that he was pleased that "we achieved
one of the goals set us – to guarantee really contested elections as
a means of guaranteeing the democratic image of the Nagorny Karabakh
republic".
Many of the 100 or so unofficial international observers who monitored
the elections also said that they were conducted fairly.
"People know who they are voting for and why," said Giuletto Chiesa,
the well-known Italian journalist, now a member of the European
parliament and visiting in an unofficial capacity. "It’s no worse
here than in Italy."
Mailian’s campaign headquarters did complain that the election process
had been stacked against their candidate, with Sahakian receiving
backing through official channels and the media. The Mailian team
made four complaints to the central electoral commission during the
campaign and 20 complaints on election-day itself.
However, Mailian himself conceded that the violations had not been
"decisive" in his defeat.
"We know that the atmosphere put real pressure on people but all the
same we cannot not accept that it was a conscious choice," he said.
"People could have acted otherwise but they did not. That is their
right. We understand their right and accept their choice."
Following his defeat, Mailian said he was now considering his
options. He could continue to work in government or be at the head
of a new opposition movement.
In the semi-ruined town of Shushi (known to Azerbaijanis as Shusha),
there were few voters and IWPR found little campaigning. Local
headmaster Albert Khachatrian, representing Sahakian, told IWPR,
"In a situation of no war and no peace, there is no need for fierce
competition between the candidates. Just as before, we need to be
united in everything. Bako Sahakian will give us this unity."
The only person in Mailian’s Shushi headquarters was one elderly
watchman, while none of the other candidates were represented.
At the town’s two polling stations, there was more activity. IWPR
tried to talk to a group of soldiers, but was stopped from doing so
by their captain, who said all questions should be directed to him.
"Campaigning is forbidden in the armed forces but the soldiers have
access to television, radio and the newspapers," said Captain Balayan,
as his men went to vote in groups of three.
In the eastern village of Aigestan, there was a queue of voters to cast
their ballots at the polling station. Zoya Barseghian confided to IWPR,
"I like Mailian’s programme more but I will vote for Sahakian. I have
to do that."
All international bodies have declared the elections in Nagorny
Karabakh illegitimate. However, there is a general feeling of
satisfaction within Karabakh that they have taken place.
Outgoing leader Ghukasian parried the criticism by saying, "If the
international community does not recognise electoral processes in
our country, they should offer an alternative. Nagorny Karabakh is
holding elections not for the world but for its people."
Dmitry Avaliani is a journalist with 24 Hours newspaper in Tbilisi,
Georgia; Karine Ohanian is a journalist with Demo newspaper in
Nagorny Karabakh; Ahra Smyr is a journalist with Chegemskaya Pravda
newspaper in Abkhazia. All three are members of IWPR’s Cross Caucasus
Journalism Network. IWPR’s Azerbaijan Country Director Shahin Rzayev
contributed to the article. The terminology used in this article to
describe Nagorny Karabakh was chosen by IWPR, not by the authors.