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Artsakh Armenians' democratic victory

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  • Artsakh Armenians' democratic victory

    Artsakh Armenians' democratic victory

    Editorial

    Yerkir/Arm
    24 June 05

    The June 19 election to the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) National
    Assembly was a victory for Armenians in terms of strengthening the
    democracy in the liberated Artsakh. Over 1,500 foreign observers
    watching the race and the vote noted that Artsakh conducted free,
    transparent and clean election.

    They also pointed out that Azerbaijan should learn lessons from
    Artsakh's democracy. Even the American observers' spokesman stated
    that it would be better for Baku to win in the democratic battle
    rather than in the race of armaments.

    Would Azerbaijan learn its lessons or not is not important; but it is
    appropriate to congratulate the entire people of Artsakh -- the
    electorate, authorities, political forces -- over this victory of
    democracy. This success that would significantly increase the
    international image of Artsakh, the people of Artsakh proved that
    they are mature and determined to fix their home democratically.

    It was, indeed, not an easy task to remain on the democratic path
    during the election, especially in such vigorous race with the
    pro-government circles united around the NKR president on the one
    side, and the opposition seeking fundamental reforms on the other.
    The latter included the ARF Artsakh organization. The fact is that in
    the pre-election stage, the government used its resources to get
    desired outcome, but the strong race helped to avoid any rigging on
    the day of the voting.

    It is a topic of a separate and serious discussion why the
    reform-seeking opposition lost so heavily in the National Assembly
    election, and especially in the single-mandate constituencies. The
    electorate effectively chose to elect the so-called business people,
    unequivocally distancing from the candidates who stood in the roots
    of the Artsakh liberation war. Even under the proportionate
    (party-list) system, the opposition took only 27 percent of the
    votes.

    Such stance of the electorate offers a number of lessons for the
    forces, including the ARF Artsakh organization, which want radical
    changes in the way of the governance. After all, the outcome of the
    June 19 election came to prove that fears of turmoil and instability
    have deep roots in our people: the majority effectively hopes to
    improve its life conditions through the investments of the
    businessmen.

    The democratic election held on June 19, however, is also valuable
    because it guarantees that the long fight for political reforms would
    be kept away from election fraud.

    Droshak
    June 2005
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