2020 Artsakhian general election

General elections were held in the Republic of Artsakh on 31 March 2020, with a second round of the presidential election on 14 April. Voters elected the President and 33 members of the National Assembly. It was the first (and only) time the President and National Assembly were elected at the same time.

2020 Artsakhian general election

Presidential election
← 2017 31 March 2020 (2020-03-31) (first round)
14 April 2020 (2020-04-14) (second round)
2023 →
Turnout72.47% (first round)
45.01% (second round)
 
Candidate Arayik Harutyunyan Masis Mayilyan
Party Free Motherland Independent
Alliance Free Motherland - UCA New Artsakh Alliance
Popular vote 39,860 5,428
Percentage 88.01% 11.99%

Second round results by province
Harutyunyan:      80–90%      >90%

President before election

Bako Sahakyan
Independent

President-elect

Arayik Harutyunyan
Free Motherland

Parliamentary election
← 2015 31 March 2020 (2020-03-31)
Turnout72.45%
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/–
Free Motherland - UCA Arayik Harutyunyan 40.80 16 +1
United Motherland Samvel Babayan 24.04 9 New
Justice Vitaly Balasanyan 7.98 3 New
ARF David Ishkhanyan 6.47 3 −4
Democratic Party Ashot Ghulian 5.86 2 −4
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
President of the National Assembly before President of the National Assembly after
Ashot Ghulian
Democratic Party
Arthur Tovmasyan
Free Motherland

The Free Motherland - UCA Alliance, United Motherland, Justice, ARF, and the Democratic Party won seats in National Assembly. No party won the majority of seats, which means that coalition talks are likely to be held within parties.[1]

Presidential candidate Arayik Harutyunyan came first in the first round of the presidential election. A run-off between him and incumbent Foreign Minister Masis Mayilyan was held on 14 April 2020. However, Masis Mayilyan made an announcement urging the people of Artsakh not to participate in the second round of elections in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.[2][3] As a result, the majority of Mayilyan's voters from the first round did not vote, and turnout in the second round declined by nearly 30%. However, a majority of Harutyunyan's voters did return to the polls for the second round, in spite of the call to avoid spreading COVID-19, giving him a wide margin of victory in the second round.

Background

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Presidential elections were initially scheduled to be held by popular vote in 2017, five years after the 2012 elections. However, after a constitutional referendum in 2017, the country switched from a semi-presidential system to a presidential system. As a result, in the 2017 presidential elections the National Assembly re-elected Bako Sahakyan as president for the next three years until the general election.[4][5]

The incumbent President Bako Sahakyan declared that he would not run in the elections.[6][7]

Electoral system

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The President of Artsakh was elected using a two-round system. If a candidate took more than 50% of the overall vote, he or she was declared elected. If the 50% threshold was not met by any candidate, a second round of voting would be held. In the second round, only the two most popular candidates from the first round could participate. The winner of the second round would be elected President of Artsakh.

Members of the National Assembly were elected by proportional representation, with between 27 and 33 MPs; the number would be defined by the Electoral Code.[8]

Presidential candidates

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Conduct

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140 international observers from 38 countries were registered with the Central Election Commission to monitor the election.[16] At the time of the election, Artsakh's border with Armenia was closed to non-essential travel due to the Coronavirus pandemic. However, international observers were granted an exception provided they first test negative for COVID-19.

Several members of the United States Congress announced that their office employees and senior advisers would visit Artsakh to observe the elections. Congressman Frank Pallone stated that "We want to highlight that democracy works in Artsakh and is in accordance with all the standards of free society."[17]

Prior to the second round of the presidential election, around 200 protesters took to the streets of Stepanakert alleging fraud in the elections held on 31 March. The protestors called for the annulment of the election results, and demanded the unconditional resignation of President Bako Sahakyan, Chief of Police Levon Mnatsakanyan and Secretary of the Security Council Arshavir Gharamyan, as well as fresh elections.[18]

Results

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President

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Presidential candidate Arayik Harutyunyan came first in the first round of the presidential election. A run-off between him and incumbent Foreign Minister Masis Mayilyan was held on 14 April 2020. Masis Mayilyan made an announcement prior to the second round urging the people of Artsakh not to participate in the second round of elections in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.[2][3] As a result, the majority of Mayilyan's voters from the first round did not vote, and turnout in the second round declined by nearly 30%. However, a majority of Harutyunyan's voters did return to the polls for the second round, in spite of the call to avoid spreading COVID-19, giving him a wide margin of victory in the second round.

CandidatePartyFirst roundSecond round
Votes%Votes%
Arayik HarutyunyanFree Motherland - UCA Alliance36,07649.1739,86088.01
Masis MayilyanIndependent19,36026.395,42811.99
Vitaly BalasanyanJustice10,85514.79
David IshkhanyanArmenian Revolutionary Federation1,8732.55
Ashot GhulianDemocratic Party of Artsakh1,6832.29
Hayk KhanumyanNational Revival9621.31
Vahan BadasyanUnited Armenia Party7431.01
David BabayanArtsakh Conservative Party5870.80
Ruslan IsraelyanGeneration of Independence Party3710.51
Christine BalayanIndependent2020.28
Ashot DadayanIndependent1980.27
Bella LalayanIndependent1620.22
Sergey AmiryanIndependent1600.22
Melsik PoghosyanIndependent1410.19
Total73,373100.0045,288100.00
Valid votes73,37396.5545,28896.02
Invalid/blank votes2,6223.451,8763.98
Total votes75,995100.0047,164100.00
Registered voters/turnout104,86672.47104,77745.01
Source: CEC, CEC

National Assembly

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The Free Motherland - UCA Alliance, United Motherland, Justice, ARF, and the Democratic Party won seats in National Assembly. No party won the majority of seats, which means that coalition talks are likely to be held within parties.[1]

 
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Free Motherland - UCA Alliance30,01540.8016+1
United Motherland17,68324.049New
Justice5,8677.983New
Armenian Revolutionary Federation4,7586.473–4
Democratic Party of Artsakh4,3145.862–4
New Artsakh Alliance3,3854.600New
National Revival2,1752.9600
Artsakh Conservative Party2,1562.930New
Artsakh Revolutionary Party1,3251.800New
United Armenia Party9301.260New
Generation of Independence Party5510.750New
Communist Party of Artsakh4020.5500
Total73,561100.00330
Valid votes73,56196.82
Invalid/blank votes2,4193.18
Total votes75,980100.00
Registered voters/turnout104,86672.45
Source: CEC, Armenanews

International reaction

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The European Union,[19] the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation,[20] the GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development,[21] the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States,[22] several governments and embassies of several countries in Turkey or Azerbaijan announced that they did not recognize the election.[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan both congratulated the people of Artsakh on the occasion of the elections.[36][37][38]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Արցախի խորհրդարանի "քաղաքական քարտեզը". ի՞նչ համագործակցություններ կլինեն. "Փաստ"". 1in.am. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  2. ^ a b "Մասիս Մայիլյանը կոչ է անում համավարակի պայմաններում չմասնակցել երկրորդ փուլի քվեարկությանը". «Ազատ Եվրոպա/Ազատություն» ռադիոկայան (in Armenian). Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  3. ^ a b "Կոչ եմ անում կորոնավիրուսի վտանգի պայմաններում չմասնակցել երկրորդ փուլի քվեարկությանը․ Մասիս Մայիլյան". news.am (in Armenian). Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  4. ^ The new constitution of Artsakh will lead to concentration of power and resources Archived 20 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine Media Centre, 21 February 2017
  5. ^ "Bako Sahakyan re-elected President of Artsakh". mediamax.am. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  6. ^ "Բակո Սահակյանը 2020-ին չի առաջադրվի նախագահի պաշտոնում". www.civilnet.am (in Armenian). Archived from the original on September 13, 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  7. ^ "Բակո Սահակյանը հայտարարել է 2020-ին չառաջադրվելու որոշման մասին". «Ազատ Եվրոպա/Ազատություն» ռադիոկայան (in Armenian). Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  8. ^ Article 107 Constitution of the Republic of Artsakh
  9. ^ "Ո՞վ է հավակնում 2020 թվականին դառնալ Արցախի նախագահ. ընդդիմությունը լուրջ է տրամադրված". Armtimes.com (in Armenian). Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  10. ^ "«Արցախի հանրապետական» կուսակցությունը որոշել է սատարել Արայիկ Հարությունյանի թեկնածությունը". infocom.am.
  11. ^ "Candidacies of Artsakh FM Masis Mayilyan, President spokesperson Davit Babayan nominated at upcoming presidential elections in Artsakh - aysor.am - Hot news from Armenia". www.aysor.am.
  12. ^ Artsakh Presidential Race Goes to Second Round in Historically Competitive Election EVN, 1 April 2020
  13. ^ "Artsakh's 2020 Election: The Essential Primer". www.evnreport.com. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  14. ^ Վիտալի Բալասանյանը չի բացառում՝ 2020-ին կարող է պայքարել ԼՂ նախագահի պաշտոնի համար (in Armenian), retrieved 1 February 2019
  15. ^ Democratic Congress 2020 Ashot Ghulyan has been nominated for the presidential election (in Armenian), retrieved 15 January 2020[permanent dead link]
  16. ^ President Bako Sahakyan Dismisses Calls to Postpone Artsakh Election, retrieved 1 April 2020
  17. ^ Several US Congressmen to send their office staffers to Artsakh to observe elections, retrieved 19 February 2020
  18. ^ "Լեւոն Մնացականյանի եւ Արշավիր Ղարամյանի հրաժարականը. Բողոքի ակցիա Ստեփանակերտում". Lragir (in Armenian). 5 April 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  19. ^ "Nagorno-Karabakh: Statement by the Spokesperson on the so-called presidential and parliamentary elections". European External Action Service. 31 March 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  20. ^ L'OCI rejette la tenue d'élections dans le Nagorno-Karabakh occupé. 31 March 2020
  21. ^ GUAM condemns so-called “elections” in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories. Trend. 31 March 2020
  22. ^ STATEMENT BY THE COOPERATION COUNCIL OF TURKIC SPEAKING STATES. 31 March 2020.
  23. ^ Australia supports the territorial integrity of #Azerbaijan and does not recognise the ‘elections’ which took place in Nagorno-Karabakh on 31 March. Marc Innes-Brown (Australian Ambassador to Turkey, accredited in Azerbaijan). Twitter. 3 April 2020.
  24. ^ Illegal “elections” in the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Azertag. 6 March 2020.
  25. ^ Canada supports the territorial integrity Azerbaijan and doesn’t recognize the so-called “elections” held in Nagorno-Karabakh on 31/3. Embassy of Canada in Turkey (accredited in Azerbaijan). Twitter. 1 April 2020.
  26. ^ Statement of the MFA on „Presidential and Parliamentary Elections” in Nagorno-Karabakh. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. 1 April 2020.
  27. ^ Estonia MFA: Estonia does not consider the so-called elections in Nagorno Karabakh as legitimate. We continue to support the mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.. Twitter.
  28. ^ Ana Dumbadze. Georgian MFA: We Don't Recognize "Elections" in N. Kharabkh Archived 2020-09-13 at the Wayback Machine. Georgia Today. 1 April 2020.
  29. ^ We do not recognize the legal framework of the so called „presidential and parliamentary elections“ that took place yesterday in #Nagorno-Karabakh. Both the elections and their results are considered illegal. Michael Siebert. Twitter. 1 April 2020.
  30. ^ No recogniton [sic] of the so-called presidential and parliamentary elections in #NagornoKarabakh by Italy.. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy. Twitter.
  31. ^ #Latvia does not consider the so-called presidential and parliamentary elections in #NagornoKarabakh as legitimate. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia. Twitter. 31 March 2020.
  32. ^ MFA Montenegro: The so-called “presidential and parliamentary elections” in Nagorno-Karabakh, held on March 31, 2020 don’t serve that goal, nor can prejudice the determination of the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh, or the outcome of the ongoing negotiation process. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro. Twitter. 2 April 2020.
  33. ^ Elections in Upper Karabakh null and void, Turkish Foreign Ministry says. Daily Sabah. 30 March 2020.
  34. ^ UkrInform: Ukraine condemns elections in Nagorno-Karabakh. Kyiv Post. 31 March 2020.
  35. ^ UK does not recognize so-called “elections” in occupied Azerbaijani territories Archived 2020-04-04 at the Wayback Machine. News.az. 1 April 2020.
  36. ^ "President Armen Sarkissian's address on the occasion of state elections in the Republic of Artsakh - Press releases - Updates - The President of the Republic of Armenia". www.president.am. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  37. ^ "Armenia's prime minister Nikol Pashinyan said elections in Artsakh were of high-quality - aysor.am - Hot news from Armenia". www.aysor.am. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  38. ^ "Pashinyan praises "high-quality" Artsakh elections". armenpress.am. Retrieved 2020-04-04.