Analyst: Artsakh appeared at a systemic-political crossroad

ArmInfo.After summing up the results of the parliamentary and presidential elections, Artsakh appeared at a systemic-political crossroad. Director of the Armenian  Center for National and Strategic Studies Manvel Sargsyan expressed a  similar opinion to ArmInfo.

"Accordingly, the future of the political system is the most debated  topic in today's Artsakh. The main problem is that the new president  of Artsakh, Harutyunyan, is largely considered as an oligarch. And  the possibility of the final dismantling of the Artsakh's free will  suppression machine is practically not associated with him. There are  serious concerns that the new president will take the path of  restoring the effectiveness of this machine. Today, the situation has  hung in the air and there is little time left to clear it, "he said.

According to the analyst's estimates, the current situation is based  on the actualization of the possibility of changes after 28 years of  a tough military-political regime in Artsakh, which has deprived the  society of any opportunities to influence its fate. Nevertheless, it  was the latest nationwide elections that demonstrated the  unpreparedness of society, the authorities of Artsakh and Armenia for  the formation of public administration bodies through free elections.   According to Sargsyan, the bribery and falsification machine has  again shown its effectiveness, again threatening the future of the  political system.

Sargsyan recalled that the process of building a legal state in  Artsakh has been distorted since mid-1992, primarily due to  contradictions and differing party affiliation of the authorities of  Armenia and Artsakh.  And the war with Azerbaijan only worsened the  situation in this regard. The attempt to restore formal state  institutions after the end of the war was also unsuccessful. The real  power was concentrated not in the hands the elected President Robert  Kocharian, but in the hands of the commander of the NKR Defense Army,  Samvel Babayan. The latter very quickly established a military  criminal dictatorship, and the repression machine reached its  finished form. 

According to the analyst, another opportunity to restore the  legitimate functions of state institutions and the democratization of  public and political life arose after Babayan's overthrow, in the  time of terrorist attack on October 27, 1999. This period lasted only  until the victory of independent candidate Eduard Aghabekyan in the  2004 mayoral election of Stepanakert. Then, in order to strengthen  their positions, the authorities formed a new party led by  businessman Arayik Harutyunyan, who won the majority of votes in the  2005 elections and formed the government.  "When Bako Sahakyan became  president, the repressive machine was quickly restored, expanding its  functions even to Armenia. We all witnessed its manifestation on  March 1, 2008, in the course of the Berdzor events, Hayk Khanumyan's  beating. The change of power in Armenia after the   led to a tangible failure of the repression machine in Artsakh.   However, with the connivance of the revolutionary authorities of  Armenia in the 2020 state elections, Harutyunyan was able to take  over the presidency and the majority of parliamentary seats in  Artsakh with all the negative consequences and the alarming trends  and expectations of return to the past ", Sargsyan concluded.