ArmInfo.According to the results of the second round of elections, the political transit of power – the change of key political persons in Artsakh can be considered successfully completed, leading researcher at the Center for Euro-Atlantic Security of the Institute for International Studies at Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MSIIR) Sergey Markedonov, expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.
“At the same time, the new president Arayik Harutyunyan for pragmatic reasons will try to distance himself from his predecessor, from the outgoing management team regarding which the people of Artsakh have accumulated discontent and a certain tiredness. Accordingly, having multifaceted problems with legitimacy, the new government will need to separate itself from the mistakes of the past. Only 44.9% of voters came to the polls in the second round, while Harutyunyan’s faction will have opponents in parliament. There will also be certain political activity outside of parliament, “he remarked.
In this light, according to the analyst’s forecasts, Harutyunyan will have to not only gain political distance from his predecessors, but, playing ahead of the curve, incorporate some moderate opponents into the new government. Thus, the President of Artsakh will face a situation similar to the one faced in 2008 by Serzh Sargsyan in Armenia. The latter also had to prove to the opposition and society his own independence from Robert Kocharyan.
According to Markedonov’s estimates, with coming to power in Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan chose a course to strengthen Yerevan’s presence in Stepanakert and develop his own “Karabakh capital”. At the same time, Yerevan tried to demonstrate detachment from internal dynamics during the elections in Artsakh. And judging from the lack of desire to cancel or postpone the elections due to the threat of the coronavirus, apparently, the Armenian leadership sought to close the election page in Artsakh as soon as possible.
“It seems that such a position of Yerevan is due to the fact that Pashinyan will more benefit if Artsakh has a President with problems with legitimacy rather than the president with 90% support. And in this light, Masis Mayilian’s typological proximity to the new Armenian leadership takes a backseat to a more important factor. The President of Artsakh, who has any problems with legitimacy, will not undertake a confrontation in relations with Yerevan as soon as he comes to power. Since the support of colleagues from Armenia is extreme importance for him. It seems that the distancing of Yerevan from the electoral processes in Artsakh was based on this calculation, ” Markedonov said.
Following the results of the second round of presidential elections in Artsakh on April 14, according to preliminary information from the CEC, Arayik Harutyunyan, the leader of the Free Homeland party, won with 39,860 or 88% of the vote. 5428 or 12% of voters voted for Foreign Minister Masis Mayilyan who was calling on the Artsakhians to boycott the elections. 1876 ballots were recognized invalid. In the second round, 47,165 or 44.9% of the total number of voters took part. According to the results of the first round, Harutyunyan scored – 49.6%, Masis Mayilyan – 26.7% of the vote. The March 31 parliamentary elections ended with the passage of five political forces in the Artsakh National Assembly. These are the parties “Free Homeland”, “United Civil Alliance” – 40.4%, “United Homeland” – 23.63%, “Justice” – 7.9%, ARF “Dashnaktsutyun” – 6.4% and “Democratic Party Artsakh “- 5.81%.