DOMESTIC DEBATE MARKS KARABAKH PRESIDENTIAL VOTE
Elizabeth Owen
EurasiaNet, NY
July 19 2007
A power struggle for the presidency of the unrecognized
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has sparked a political debate within this
disputed territory rarely seen from the outside.
The July 19 presidential vote marks the departure of de facto
President Arkady Ghukassian from the leadership of this breakaway
territory after a decade in power. Five candidates campaigned to
take his place, though the race largely revolved around only two:
Bako Saakian, the reserved 46-year-old former head of Karabakh’s
security service, and Masis Mailian, the territory’s media-friendly,
English-speaking 39-year-old de facto deputy foreign minister.
Turnout at 5pm was put at 65.7 percent or some 60,267 voters. Polls
were due to close at 8 pm local time, or 11 am New York time.
The contest has been depicted by some Western analysts as yet another
regional show-down between relatively conservative, pro-Russian forces
and relatively liberal, pro-Western forces.
The concept of such a rivalry is largely rejected within Karabakh
itself, however. "Russia is very far from Nagorno-Karabakh," commented
de facto President Ghukassian said in an interview July 18.
Most people interviewed in Karabakh characterized the race as a test
of the territory’s ability to show the outside world that it possessed
the democratic credentials to fend for itself.
The Mailian camp argues that this election was actually damaging
to Karabakh’s democratic image, pointing out that all four parties
represented in Nagorno-Karabakh’s National Assembly – including
the opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutiun and
Movement 88 -endorsed Saakian. The incumbent president, Ghukassian,
also backed Saakian to be his successor. In addition, Mailian
supporters have complained that so-called administrative resources
were deployed to promote Saakian’s candidacy. The alleged election
violations on behalf of Saakian included phone tapping, biased
television coverage and intimidation tactics.
De facto President Ghukassian, however, rejects the allegations,
insisting that his endorsement was made "as a citizen, not as
a president" and was driven by Saakian’s "unique organizational
capabilities," his "sense of responsibility" and his unchanging
"principles."
"Even those opposition forces that were fighting against me have
united around Bako Saakian, and it’s doubtful that my word could be
decisive for them," he said with a smile. "The process itself went
on outside of my influence."
Artur Mosian, chairman of the opposition Armenian Revolutionary
Federation in Karabakh, maintained there was nothing illogical about
the opposition’s decision to side with the two pro-government parties,
the Democratic Party of Artsakh and the Azat Hayrenik Party.
The move was sparked, he said, by the realization that "many of
our worst internal and external problems" could be solved together
with Saakian.
"What are we in opposition to? The new president hasn’t been elected
yet, the government hasn’t been formed," Mosian said. "If you think
that [Saakian’s] a pro-government candidate, well, they’re all
pro-government candidates."
At least one Karabakh legislator refused to go along with the
party line. Gegam Bagdassarian, the deputy chairman of Movement
88, disassociated himself from his party’s support for Saakian and
instead backed Mailian’s candidacy. "They [other Movement 88 leaders]
explain [their support for Saakian] by the fact that it’s necessary
to facilitate national unity. These are lofty words, good words, but
to talk about unity during elections, it’s absurd," Bagdassarian said.
As for Saakian and Mailian, their campaign platforms contained a host
of similarities – a fact perhaps reflected in the number of stores
in the Karabakh capital of Stepanakert hanging both pro-Saakian and
pro-Mailian posters.
Saakian’s omnibus-style program, designed to reflect all four
parliamentary parties’ concerns, included everything from "[s]etting
social justice as the cornerstone of social policy" to "increasing
the quality and role of education" and "creating new jobs." In a
briefing with journalists and observers, the candidate stated that
17-hour workdays "physically" prevented him from reading his opponents’
platforms for comparison.
Mailian, who regularly monitored news to compare coverage of his
campaign and Saakian’s, described his program as based on three
"inter-connected" points: "real reforms," rule of law and recognition
of Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state.
"All developed countries, in Western Europe, the United States, reached
the heights of economic development purely thanks to the fact that
they decided to respect the law," he said. "We need to do the same."
Neither camp takes issue with the individual qualities of the opposing
candidate. "Any battle of ideas is a very positive thing for us,"
David Babayan, a presidential aide who took a leave-of-absence to
work for Saakian’s campaign.
"The issue here isn’t the person. I’d admit that he’s a good person,"
said Bagdassarian of Saakian. "The problem is with the forces that
support him. The forces are the current political elite that have
worn themselves out and should leave."
Meanwhile, in rain-drenched Stepanakert, residents often appeared
to take little notice of the battle. Some characterized their
participation in the election as a given, others wondered what point
there was in voting in an "already decided" contest.
Said one elderly woman buying bread on a busy sidewalk: "We can hope
for the best, but, in Karabakh, we’ve learned to live with whatever
happens."
Editor’s Note: Elizabeth Owen is EurasiaNetÆs Caucasus news editor
in Tbilisi. Sophia Mizante is a freelance photojournalist based
in Tbilisi.
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