PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE IN NAGORNYY KARABAKH REPUBLIC DOUBTS ELECTION TO BE FAIR
Haykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
6 Jul 07, pp 1, 3
Text of Qristine Khanumyan’s report in Armenian newspaper Haykakan
Zhamanak on 6 July headlined "Masis Mailyan working semi-underground"
The NKR [Nagornyy Karabakh republic] deputy foreign minister,
Masis Mailyan, who is on holiday as he is running for NKR president,
expressed his doubt to our journalist yesterday that the presidential
election in the NKR would be free and fair.
"Since the administrative resource is being used already during this
period, and it started in March and April, when attempts were made
to convince people that everything had been decided, we will hardly
have a free and fair election. We have always been different from our
neighbours because we have been able to hold free and transparent
elections that were always praised by foreign countries. Our main
argument was that we, as a more democratic country, cannot bow to not
so democratically developed Azerbaijan, which is not free according
to the evaluation of the Freedom House organization.
Those who illegally use the administrative resource and security
agencies put our country in a bad light and damage the authority and
reputation of Artsakh [Karabakh]," he said.
It is impossible to receive information about the election meetings
of NKR presidential candidate Masis Mailyan beforehand. This is
not because the schedule is kept secret, but because decisions
about meetings are made at short notice in order to prevent the NKR
government from finding out about them ahead of time. In an interview
to Haykakan Zhamanak, Mailyan explained this saying that they have
to take these measures because the government tries to do everything
to obstruct his meetings.
"The administrative resource is being used. If a meeting is to take
place in a yard, people are sent there not to let the inhabitants
come out of their homes. Such cases have happened many times in the
capital. Concerning the meetings in villages, police and heads of
villages are involved, and they always make sure that the number of
participants is small. But they fail because then people have more
interest and desire to meet me," Mailyan said and added that for this
reason they have changed their strategy.
"We do not let them know beforehand where and when we are going to
have meetings. It seems that we are successful. We consider this a
semi-underground manner, the experience of which we had in 1988,"
Mailyan said.
We asked Mailyan to comment on the statement of known sociologist
Aharon Adibekyan that Mailyan is a "glamorous" figure, and
[presidential candidate] Bako Sahakyan is a "father", and that Karabakh
needs exactly a "father".
Mailyan only said that such statements are simply offensive for the
Karabakh people.
Taking into consideration the issue connected with meetings,
we asked Mailyan whether pressure is being put on him and
his supporters. Mailyan said that there has been no pressure
on him. Instead, his supporters are subject to "preventive
measures". Mailyan said that recently an employee of the Mardakert
power company was dismissed because he supports Mailyan.
"Conversations are held with almost all obvious supporters. However,
there is no result, and those people start working in my favour more
actively," Mailyan said.
Incidentally, [NKR president] Arkadi Ghukasyan announced in Yerevan
yesterday that Bako Sahakyan is the candidate preferred by the
government.
How can this announcement by Ghukasyan influence the election? Mailyan
said that what the incumbent president said has never been a secret.
"If the administrative resource works in favour of one candidate,
it is clear who stands behind him. As to people’s reaction, this
statement will bring more votes to me."