Nagorno Karabakh elects president today
Fourth presidential election, the first one after adopting the constitution, have started today in Nagortno Karabakh. Voting started at 08:00 a.m. local time at 276 polling stations in the NKR.
The Karabakh people will have to choose between five candidates: lecturer Vanya Avanesyan, MP Armen Abgaryan, Deputy Foreign minister Masis Mailyan, leader of the NKR Communist Party Hrant Melkumyan, and former head of the National Security Service Bako Saakyan. All the candidates apart from Communist Party leader Hrant Melkumyan, were nominated under civil initiatives.
Overall, there are 91,166 eligible voters in the republic. Eight territorial election commissions, 276 polling stations were formed in the NKR. One polling station is organized in Yerevan, at the permanent mission of the NKR in Armenia, for Nagorno Karabakh citizens, who are in Armenia on the election day.
On July 17, at midnight, the election campaign that started on June 19 was officially suspended in the republic. 100 journalists were registered to cover the election; 50 of them are foreign reporters. 47 observers from 14 organizations will monitor the election, 39 of them represent international institutions or come from Russia, the USA, European countries, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transdnestr.
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