NKR presidential elections start Thursday
19.07.2012,
12:46
Presidential elections in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic started on Thursday with 274 polling stations opening sharply at 8:00 am. One of the polling stations is located in NKR representative office in Armenia.
YEREVAN, July 19. /ARKA/. Presidential elections in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic started on Thursday with 274 polling stations opening sharply at 8:00 am. One of the polling stations is located in NKR representative office in Armenia.
The presidential candidates are Deputy of the National Assembly of Karabakh, Former Deputy Defense Minister Vitaliy Balasanyan, incumbent President Bako Sahakyan and Academic Prorector of Stepanakert Branch of Armenian State Agrarian University Arkady Soghomonyan.
According to the data compiled by the Central Electoral Commission of the republic, 98,909 constituents are registered in Karabakh as of July 16.
Over 60 observers from Russia, Armenia, the United States, France, Canada, Ireland, Poland, Cyprus, Germany, Belgium, Israel, Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic will monitor the elections. Dozens of journalists from Armenia and foreign countries arrived in Karabakh to cover one of the most important event in the republic.
The current presidential elections are the fifth in NKR. The first president of NKR was Robert Kocharyan (1994), who headed Armenian Cabinet three years later, and was elected as Armenia’s President in 1998. In 1997-2007 NKR President was Arkady Ghukasyan.
Incumbent President Bako Sahakyan won the elections of July 19, 2007. The international observers and experts say any elections in Karabakh are one of the most exemplary elections in the region. -0-
