The rally called by RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Stepanakert brought some clarity to the internal political situation of Artsakh. Փաշինյանը հասկացրեց, որ Հայաստանը կդառնա 2020թ. guarantor of Artsakh free elections. In addition, he clearly implied that forceful methods of struggle are not allowed. This could not but affect the ongoing political “expertise” of retired general Samvel Babayan in Artsakh. Before that, the general did not really hope that he would be able to reach the referendum on the amendments to the Constitution. It was noticeable from his last statements that a bet is already being made on the elections of local self-government bodies and the subsequent parliamentary elections. For this purpose, the idea of the resignation of the current president Bako Sahakyan was modernized. Babayan presented his plan as follows. Rallies will be held in order to first remove the illegal government from state administration bodies and hold legal elections. In his turn, acting president Bako Sahakyan made a statement, where he made it clear that he will bring to justice before the law all those who choose the path of illegality. And here too, Prime Minister Pashinyan let us know who is the “master” here and who is allowed what.
Time will tell how this confrontation will develop. In this article, we are interested in another, broader aspect of the created situation. Both sides, Babayan and Sahakyan, accuse each other of encroaching on the foundations of the constitutional order. Everyone is right in their own way. In 2017, Sahakyan made legal manipulations with personal political ambitions, and Babayan is trying to do it now. Ընդորում` երկու կողմն էլ նշում է իր գործողությունների համապատասխանությունը օրենքի տառին: This is the whole complexity of the situation, because it is the imperfection of the legislation, rather, the legal confusion of the state-legislative acts adopted in the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh during a quarter of a century that regularly brings the country to crisis situations. Each time, this legal confusion provided an opportunity to implement the dubious political plans of one or another figure aspiring to power.
1996-98 can be an example. period. After the controversial election results of 1996, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who retained the presidency, appointed Armen Sargsyan to the post of Prime Minister, hoping that this new face of the ruling echelon would help him maintain the shaken power. However, the military elite did not accept the “foreign” figure and forced him to leave his post. The position of Prime Minister of Armenia was occupied by the President of Nagorno-Karabakh, Robert Kocharian, and Ter-Petrosyan, not long after, resigned.
1998 RA presidential elections were scheduled for March 16. Robert Kocharyan nominated his candidacy, which caused a wave of protests from the opposition. He was accused of violating the Constitution, according to which non-citizens of Armenia are prohibited from voting for the post of president. At that time, Kocharyan’s supporters justified his right to be voted for the position of president by the Supreme Council of Armenia and the National Council of Nagorno-Karabakh in 1990. by the decision of the joint session of December 1, by which Nagorno Karabakh is part of Armenia. This provision was established in 1990. Declaration of Independence of Armenia.
Kocharyan’s opponents testified to two other facts. First: in 1991 On September 2, Nagorno Karabakh formed its own Republic (NKR), which in 1991 declared its independence according to the results of the December 10 referendum (the NKR Declaration of Independence was adopted by the first Supreme Council of the NKR on January 6, 1992). And secondly, in 1991 In September, the independence referendum of Armenia was held in the territory of former Soviet Armenia. In other words, Kocharyan did not have the right to be a citizen of Armenia. The population of Nagorno Karabakh did not have the right to vote or be elected in the elections of the Republic of Armenia. The fact that Armenia did not recognize the independence of NKR deepened the legal confusion of Armenian statehood. As a result, according to the results of the second round of presidential elections held on March 30, Robert Kocharyan became the president of Armenia. This was the first stage of the collapse of the Armenian political system. 1999 After the terrorist attack on the Armenian parliament on October 27, that collapse took its final form. An oligarchic regime was established in the country.
Until now, nothing has changed in the legal and political model of Armenia. Disputes about the place of NKR in this system do not stop. The NKR population has Armenian passports, but is deprived of the right to participate in elections in the territory of the Republic of Armenia. NKR territory is fixed by the NKR Constitution adopted in 2006. Presidential, parliamentary and local self-government elections are held in that area, in which only citizens registered in the NKR participate. Persons who do not have a certain censure of permanent residence do not get the right to nominate their candidacy in the national elections.
However, the legal confusion does not stop maintaining the possibilities of further manipulations and side effects on the political system of the two Armenian republics. As a result of the “velvet” revolution in Armenia, the weakening of the foundations of the current NKR government again created conditions for outside encroachments in the legal and political system. As before, the legal basis for the realization of the goal of obtaining the right to nominate the candidate for the NKR president is the 1990 resolution of the Supreme Council of Armenia and the National Council of Nagorno-Karabakh. December 1 is the decision of the joint session. It is proposed to put into legal and political use the statute on the right of RA citizens to participate in Artsakh elections for elective positions. Everything else in the legislation of Armenia and NKR remains the same. In the conditions, when a significant part of the population of Artsakh shows a very negative attitude towards the current authorities, people are very little interested in the destructive meaning of such a proposal.
But what could it actually mean? It can only mean that the degree of insecurity of the political system of Armenia and NKR is rising by another scale. There is no mechanism left to protect the political system from external influences. Any power that wants to assert its dictates over the state administration system can get a legal loophole if the idea proposed by Samvel Babayan to introduce that change into the NKR Constitution is implemented. It is not difficult to imagine what kind of political adventures can be planned under such conditions.
Armenia’s political class has always treated the concept of rights with disdain. Legal and political acts were adopted based on the expediency of the moment. As a result, these acts turned into a tool of multi-program machinations in the hands of politicians. This will continue until a serious revision of state constitutions is carried out.
Manvel Sargsyan
Disclaimer: This article was contributed and translated into English by Emil Lazarian. While we strive for quality, the views and accuracy of the content remain the responsibility of the contributor. Please verify all facts independently before reposting or citing.
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