General elections were held in the Republic of Artsakh on 31 March 2020, with a second round of the presidential election on 14 April. Voters elected the President and 33 members of the National Assembly. It was the first (and only) time the President and National Assembly were elected at the same time.
The Free Motherland - UCA Alliance, United Motherland, Justice, ARF, and the Democratic Party won seats in National Assembly. No party won the majority of seats, which means that coalition talks are likely to be held within parties.
Presidential candidate Arayik Harutyunyan came first in the first round of the presidential election. A run-off between him and incumbent Foreign Minister Masis Mayilyan was held on 14 April 2020. However, Masis Mayilyan made an announcement urging the people of Artsakh not to participate in the second round of elections in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. As a result, the majority of Mayilyan's voters from the first round did not vote, and turnout in the second round declined by nearly 30%. However, a majority of Harutyunyan's voters did return to the polls for the second round, in spite of the call to avoid spreading COVID-19, giving him a wide margin of victory in the second round.
Background Presidential elections were initially scheduled to be held by popular vote in 2017, five years after the 2012 elections. However, after a constitutional referendum in 2017, the country switched from a semi-presidential system to a presidential system. As a result, in the 2017 presidential elections the National Assembly re-elected Bako Sahakyan as president for the next three years until the general election.The new constitution of Artsakh will lead to concentration of power and resources Media Centre, 21 February 2017
The incumbent President Bako Sahakyan declared that he would not run in the elections.
Electoral system The President of Artsakh was elected using a two-round system. If a candidate took more than 50% of the overall vote, he or she was declared elected. If the 50% threshold was not met by any candidate, a second round of voting would be held. In the second round, only the two most popular candidates from the first round could participate. The winner of the second round would be elected President of Artsakh.
Members of the National Assembly were elected by proportional representation, with between 27 and 33 MPs; the number would be defined by the Electoral Code.Article 107 Constitution of the Republic of Artsakh
Presidential candidates Arayik Harutyunyan, presidential advisor, former Prime Minister and State Minister. Endorsed by the Artsakh Republican Party. Masis Mayilyan, incumbent Foreign Affairs Minister; officially an independent candidate but supported by the New Artsakh AllianceArtsakh Presidential Race Goes to Second Round in Historically Competitive Election EVN, 1 April 2020 and endorsed by Samvel Babayan's United Motherland party and by the Powerful United Homeland Party Vitaly Balasanyan, former Secretary of the National Security Council of Artsakh Ashot Ghulian, incumbent President of the National Assembly of Artsakh, leader of the Democratic Party of Artsakh
Conduct 140 international observers from 38 countries were registered with the Central Election Commission to monitor the election. At the time of the election, Artsakh's border with Armenia was closed to non-essential travel due to the Coronavirus pandemic. However, international observers were granted an exception provided they first test negative for COVID-19.
Several members of the United States Congress announced that their office employees and senior advisers would visit Artsakh to observe the elections. Congressman Frank Pallone stated that "We want to highlight that democracy works in Artsakh and is in accordance with all the standards of free society."
Prior to the second round of the presidential election, around 200 protesters took to the streets of Stepanakert alleging fraud in the elections held on 31 March. The protestors called for the annulment of the election results, and demanded the unconditional resignation of President Bako Sahakyan, Chief of Police Levon Mnatsakanyan and Secretary of the Security Council Arshavir Gharamyan, as well as fresh elections.
Results President Presidential candidate Arayik Harutyunyan came first in the first round of the presidential election. A run-off between him and incumbent Foreign Minister Masis Mayilyan was held on 14 April 2020. Masis Mayilyan made an announcement prior to the second round urging the people of Artsakh not to participate in the second round of elections in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. As a result, the majority of Mayilyan's voters from the first round did not vote, and turnout in the second round declined by nearly 30%. However, a majority of Harutyunyan's voters did return to the polls for the second round, in spite of the call to avoid spreading COVID-19, giving him a wide margin of victory in the second round.
National Assembly The Free Motherland - UCA Alliance, United Motherland, Justice, ARF, and the Democratic Party won seats in National Assembly. No party won the majority of seats, which means that coalition talks are likely to be held within parties.
International reaction The European Union, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation,L'OCI rejette la tenue d'élections dans le Nagorno-Karabakh occupé. 31 March 2020 the GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development,GUAM condemns so-called “elections” in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories. Trend. 31 March 2020 the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States,STATEMENT BY THE COOPERATION COUNCIL OF TURKIC SPEAKING STATES. 31 March 2020. several governments and embassies of several countries in Turkey or Azerbaijan announced that they did not recognize the election.Australia supports the territorial integrity of #Azerbaijan and does not recognise the ‘elections’ which took place in Nagorno-Karabakh on 31 March. Marc Innes-Brown (Australian Ambassador to Turkey, accredited in Azerbaijan). Twitter. 3 April 2020.Illegal “elections” in the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Azertag. 6 March 2020.Canada supports the territorial integrity Azerbaijan and doesn’t recognize the so-called “elections” held in Nagorno-Karabakh on 31/3. Embassy of Canada in Turkey (accredited in Azerbaijan). Twitter. 1 April 2020.Statement of the MFA on „Presidential and Parliamentary Elections” in Nagorno-Karabakh. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. 1 April 2020.Estonia MFA: Estonia does not consider the so-called elections in Nagorno Karabakh as legitimate. We continue to support the mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.. Twitter.Ana Dumbadze. Georgian MFA: We Don't Recognize "Elections" in N. Kharabkh . Georgia Today. 1 April 2020.We do not recognize the legal framework of the so called „presidential and parliamentary elections“ that took place yesterday in #Nagorno-Karabakh. Both the elections and their results are considered illegal. Michael Siebert. Twitter. 1 April 2020.No of the so-called presidential and parliamentary elections in #NagornoKarabakh by Italy.. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy. Twitter.#Latvia does not consider the so-called presidential and parliamentary elections in #NagornoKarabakh as legitimate. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia. Twitter. 31 March 2020.MFA Montenegro: The so-called “presidential and parliamentary elections” in Nagorno-Karabakh, held on March 31, 2020 don’t serve that goal, nor can prejudice the determination of the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh, or the outcome of the ongoing negotiation process. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro. Twitter. 2 April 2020.Elections in Upper Karabakh null and void, Turkish Foreign Ministry says. Daily Sabah. 30 March 2020.UkrInform: Ukraine condemns elections in Nagorno-Karabakh. Kyiv Post. 31 March 2020.UK does not recognize so-called “elections” in occupied Azerbaijani territories . News.az. 1 April 2020.
Armenian President Armen Sarkissian and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan both congratulated the people of Artsakh on the occasion of the elections.
See also
Elections in the Republic of Artsakh List of political parties in Artsakh Politics of Artsakh
References