The world community’s reaction to the July 19 presidential election in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is not very much important, according to Stepan Grigoryan, the president of the Analytical Centre on Globalisation and Regional Cooperation.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, the expert referred to the UN and Council of Europe fundamental conventions, specifying every nation’s right to form its government.

He said he was more interested in the competition rather than the outcomes of the polls.
 

“Karabakh did really see a competitive election. There was a heated struggle, so the world will have to take that into consideration, whether wants it or not,” he said

Grigoryan said that opposition candidate Vitaly Balasanyan’s high percentage of votes (31.4%) is likely to raise the opposition’s role in the country’s life.

“Our goal is to make the opposition functional in Karabakh. Whenever a country has a strong opposition. The reason is clear: keeping the authorities in tension, the opposition makes them work,” he added.

The expert noted in the meantime that the opposition in Karabakh has to be more cautions given the country’s unsettled land dispute with Azerbaijan.

“The Line of Contact is there, so clearly the opposition there has to be more correct and cautious. But the fact that they exist and criticize the authorities’ mistakes is only positive,” he added.