2005 Nagorno-Karabakh parliamentary election

Artsakh 2000 2010 19 June 2005 33 seats in the National Assembly 17 Free Motherland Arayik Harutyunyan 18.48 10 new Democratic Party of Artsakh Ashot Ghulian 16.62 10 20 ARF–M88 17.36 3 9 Independents 45.63 10 2 President of the National Assembly Oleg Yesayan Independent politician Ashot Ghulian Democratic Party of Artsakh Parliamentary elections were held in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic on 19 June 2005. The election saw the two pro-government parties, the Democratic Party of Artsakh and Free Motherland, win a large majority of seats. The opposition criticised the conduct of the election but international election monitors generally praised the election. Background Nagorno-Karabakh declared its independence from Azerbaijan in 1991. The First Nagorno-Karabakh War took place between 1988 and 1994 which resulted in Nagorno-Karabakh, with Armenian support, becoming de facto independent from Azerbaijan. However it has not been internationally recognised and Azerbaijan still claims the area as part of its state. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4107988.stm Karabakh holds disputed elections 2009-03-08 2005-06-19 BBC Online The President of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2005, Arkadi Ghukasyan, was elected in 1997 and re-elected in 2002 and had 2 years remaining on his presidential term. 2005 would be the fourth parliamentary election in Nagorno-Karabakh and was the first under a new electoral law which, among other things, introduced transparent ballot boxes. http://www.iwpr.net/?p=crs&s=f&o=243873&apc_state=henfcrs243876 Opposition Angry at Karabakh Poll 2009-03-08 2005-06-23 Institute for War and Peace Reporting The Armenian Revolutionary Federation had been in co-operation with the government until the party's only member of the government, Armen Sargsian, was sacked as Education minister in December 2004. The party then went into opposition. The opposition was expected to do well in the upcoming parliamentary elections after the leader of the opposition Movement 88 party, Eduard Aghabekian, was elected mayor of Stepanakert in August 2004 defeating a government backed candidate. https://www.rferl.org/a/1059425.html Nagorno-Karabakh: Legislative Polls Trigger Political Tensions 2009-03-08 2005-06-22 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Electoral system The 33 seats in the National Assembly consisted of 22 seats elected in single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting and 11 seats elected by proportional representation. The election threshold are 10% for political parties and 15% for electoral blocs.https://ca-c.org/index.php/cac/article/view/877/790 Parliamentary elections in Nagorno-Karabakh: Legal and political aspects David Babian Central Asia and the Caucasus 2005 5(35) There was a requirement for turnout to exceed 25% in order for the election to be valid and the elected members would serve a five-year term. Campaign 185 candidates from 7 parties, together with some independents, contested the elections. https://www.rferl.org/a/1059362.html Voters Go To Polls In Nagorno-Karabakh 2009-03-08 2005-06-20 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty The election was not recognised internationally and so the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) did not send any election monitors. However about a hundred non-governmental observers did come to monitor the election, along with a group of deputies from the Russian State Duma. The election was regarded as illegitimate by Azerbaijan and their ally Turkey. Azerbaijan said that the election was illegal until Azerbaijanis were allowed to return and that it would undermine their OSCE talks with Armenia over the area. https://www.rferl.org/a/1059371.html Opposition Criticizes Vote In Nagorno-Karabakh 2009-03-08 2005-06-20 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty President Ghukasyan, though, said that the election would boost the international recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh and promised that the election would be honest and transparent. The opposition competed in the election as a coalition between the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, the oldest nationalist party in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the new Movement 88 party. The opposition criticised the democratic record of the government and accused them of using their authority to intimidate and bribe voters, a charge which the government denied. http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeniareport/report/en/2005/06/62D680B7-0642-4614-94BA-E53A5E8B77A6.ASP Ruling Party Wins Karabakh Vote Amid Opposition Outcry 2009-03-08 2005-06-20 armenialiberty.org Although the opposition was expected to do well, analysts said that disunity and the voters tiredness of continuous criticism could mean they would not do as well as expected. As well as the existing government party of the president, the Democratic Party of Artsakh, a new pro-government party contested the election, Free Motherland. Free Motherland had a mainly economic focus and said that the opposition just criticised without offering solutions. Free Motherland was expected to mainly side with the government and having a second pro-government party was seen as benefiting the authorities. Results The results saw a huge majority for the pro-government parties with the Democratic Party and Free Motherland both winning 10 seats. Most of the 10 independents were expected to back the government, while the opposition only won 3 seats, down from the 9 seats the Armenian Revolutionary Federation had won at the last election. The opposition accused the government of having a system of buying votes and using threats of dismissal from work unless people voted the right way. One opposition member said with irony that the election had taken place with "fair and transparent irregularities". The opposition threatened to boycott parliament but did not call for any street protests. Both government and opposition in Armenia praised the election and said it would strengthen the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh. The international election monitors praised the election, describing it as generally free and fair and meeting international democratic standards. One western election monitor said that many recognised states could use Nagorno-Karabakh as an example. District Proportional File:Nagorno-Karabakh National Assembly 2005.svg Free Motherland 11258 7 3 10 New Democratic Party of Artsakh 10126 5 5 10 –10 Armenian Revolutionary Federation 9836 0 0 –9 Movement 88 737 0 0 New Armenakan Party 526 0 0 0 –1 Armenia Our Home 311 0 0 0 New Communist Party of Artsakh 295 0 0 0 New Social Justice Party 27 0 0 0 New ARF–M88 3 3 New Independents 27797 10 10 +8 3928 66998 0 87949 90094 CEC Aftermath The days after the election were overshadowed by the beating of an opposition candidate, Pavel Manukian, by members of the army, although it was denied that this had anything to do with the election. http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeniareport/report/en/2005/07/0FAEE932-CDC8-4517-BA7F-6659B0D06300.ASP Karabakh General Denies Political Motives For Oppositionist’s Beating 2009-03-08 2005-07-01 www.armenialiberty.org The first session of the new parliament took place on 30 June with the posts of speaker and deputy speaker being shared between the two pro-government parties. http://www.cacianalyst.org/?q=node/3209 Karabakh Elects New Parliamentary Leadership 2009-03-08 2005-07-01 Central Asia-Caucasus Institute http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeniareport/report/en/2005/06/7A2FFC33-EDF1-4FA5-B97D-8757A2C002BD.ASP New Karabakh Assembly Elects Leaders 2009-03-08 2005-06-30 www.armenialiberty.org References Politics Category:Elections in the Republic of Artsakh Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno Parliamentary Category:Election and referendum articles with incomplete results