Arsen Kharatyan: Political crisis has developed in Artsakh

News.am, Armenia
April 6 2020

ArmInfo. A rally was held in Artsakh yesterday after the election for the first time in 30 years. Former adviser to the Prime Minister of Armenia, independent expert Arsen  Kharatyan stated this during a video discussion on the topic of the  elections held in Artsakh.

He noted the fact that the presidential and parliamentary elections  were simultaneously held in Artsakh and is an unprecedented situation  for the NKR. Kharatyan stated that the activity in the elections was  very high, 73% of voters have participated. <Before the election,  there was a very active election campaign, a total of 14 presidential  candidates were nominated. A lot of money was spent. Money was spent  on campaign posters, and more. But during the election campaign an  unprecedented charity was also carried out, which was carried out by  the former NKR State Minister. It is difficult to say whether this  affected the elections in Artsakh or not>, the expert emphasized.

He also emphasized that the group of people that closed one of the  streets in Stepanakert said they would not accept the results of  these elections. <Moreover, certain violations were recorded during  the elections.  Artsakh's presidential candidate, Foreign Minister  Masis Mayilyan, who took second place in the first round, asked his  associates to take care of themselves and not go to the polls on  April 14 as part of the fight against coronavirus", Kharatyan  emphasized.

The expert noted that it is not yet clear what the ballots will be.  < That is, it is unclear whether they will contain only the name of  Arayik Harutyunyan, since Masis Mayilyan will actually boycott the  elections or the names of both candidates. I believe that today there  is a political crisis in Artsakh>,  Kharatyan said.  It should be  noted that on March 31 the presidential and parliamentary elections  were held in Artsakh. But since none of the presidential candidates  won more than 50% of the vote, the second round of the presidential  election will be held on April 14.