Opposition refuses to recognize outcomes of NKR elections

Oppositional parties of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) have stated they did not recognize the legitimacy of the newly elected parliament.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 31, the NKR held voting at the presidential and parliamentary elections. According to the election results, five parties formed the parliament: the "Free Homeland" bloc; the "United Civil Alliance", led by the ex-Premier, Araik Arutyunyan; as well as the Parties "United Homeland", "Justice", ARF "Dashnaktsutyun" and "Democratic Party of Artsakh".

Arthur Osipyan, the leader of the "Revolutionary Party" of Artsakh, has stated on air from his page on the Facebook social network that his movement will continue street actions.

"If any opposition party in Artsakh accepts and recognizes the election outcomes, this party will compromise itself in people's eyes, by reducing its reputation to zero. There were massive violations during the elections," Mr Osipyan has stated.

The parliamentary opposition force "National Revival" has issued a statement noting that it did not recognize the new power being formed in the republic.

"The elections passed with violations of voters' free will. Observers from party and other missions show that during elections voters were affected by methods prohibited by the electoral legislation ... All this had a significant impact on the election outcomes; therefore, the authorities being formed can't be treated as legitimate," the party says in its statement.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 4, 2020 at 06:14 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.