ArmInfo.The campaign intrigue in Artsakh revolves around Araik Harutyunyan, Masis Mayilyan and Samvel Babayan. A similar opinion was expressed by ArmInfo Director of the Armenian Center for National Strategic Studies Manvel Sargsyan.
"I came back from Artsakh the other day and, starting from my own observations, I can say that these people are the most mentioned by the people of Artsakh in their conversations. I practically did not hear the names of other candidates. And of course, there is talk everywhere about buying votes, at the end after all, the power in Artsakh is still the same, "he noted.
Parliamentary and presidential elections in the Republic of Artsakh will be held on March 31. As candidates in the Artsakh CEC, 12 people registered. Including ex-Minister of Artsakh, leader of the Free Homeland party Araik Harutyunyan and Foreign Minister of Artsakh Masis Mayilyan. Ex-Minister of Defense of Artsakh Samvel Babayan and his party "United Homeland" announced support for the candidacy of Mayilyan.
According to him, the situation began to gradually clear up after the court did not allow Babayan to take part in the elections on his own. Nevertheless, the latter has many supporters and he decided to support another, alternative, opposition candidate.
In general, the analyst assesses the pre-election situation in Artsakh as quite interesting, primarily due to the large influence of changes in Armenia on the mood in Artsakh. As a result, for the first time in Artsakh, not counting the last elections to local authorities, over the past decades a situation has arisen in which voters will decide everything. There are simply no other factors capable of ensuring victory for any of the candidates.
"The authorities in Artsakh still have the previous regime. The regime is weakened, having already lost part of its personnel and, consequently, its influence on the people. Decades of atmosphere of fear, the impact of war, the use of blackmail and administrative resources in the elections are behind. Artsakh people found themselves face to face with a new themselves as a phenomenon – an opportunity of free choice that they never had. And this opportunity scares them a bit and prevents them from concentrating, "the ACNIS director summed up.
