Politics of Artsakh

Politics of Artsakh takes place within the constraints of a written constitution, approved by a popular vote, that recognises three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial. The executive branch of government is exercised within a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Artsakh is both the head of state and the head of government. The legislative branch of government is composed of both the Government and the National Assembly. Elections to the National Assembly are on the basis of a multi-party system. As of 2009, the American-based non-governmental organisation, Freedom House, ranks Artsakh above both Armenia and Azerbaijan in terms of political and civil rights.[1][2][3] The republic is de facto independent and de jure a part of Azerbaijan. None of the elections in Artsakh are recognised by international bodies such as the OSCE Minsk Group, the European Union or the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Both Azerbaijan and Turkey have condemned the elections and called them a source of increased tensions.[4][5][6]

This article is about recent and past political developments in Artsakh. For the Artsakh government, see Government of Artsakh.
Political System of Artsakh

Արցախի հանրապետության պետական համակարգ
Coat of arms of Artsakh
Polity typeUnitary presidential republic
ConstitutionConstitution of Artsakh
FormationDecember 10, 1991 (1991-12-10)
DissolvedDecember 31, 2023 (2023-12-31)
Legislative branch
NameNational Assembly
TypeUnicameral
Presiding officerAshot Ghulian, President of the National Assembly
Executive branch
Head of State and Government
TitlePresident
CurrentlyArayik Harutyunyan
Cabinet
Current cabinetSecond Harutyunyan government
Ministries15
Judicial branch
NameJudiciary of Artsakh
Politics of Artsakh
Constitution
Executive
Legislature
Judiciary
  • Judiciary
Administrative divisions
Elections and Referendums
Foreign relations
Related topics

Following an Azerbaijani assault on 19 September 2023, Artsakh agreed to dissolve itself by 1 January 2024.[7]

Executive branch
Arayik Harutyunyan
4th President of the Republic
Main office-holders
Office Name Party Since
President Arayik Harutyunyan Free Motherland 21 May 2020

The President is directly elected for a five-year term, by popular vote.

Current government
Grigori Martirosyan
State Minister of the Republic
Main article: Second Harutyunyan government

Legislative branch
Artsakh Presidential Palace
Ashot Ghulian
Speaker of the National Assembly

The National Assembly (Azgayin Zhoghov) has 33 members who are elected for a five-year term by Party-list proportional representation. Artsakh has a multi-party system, with numerous political parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments.

Judicial branch

Narine Narimanyan is the Head of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Artsakh.

Latest elections
Main article: 2020 Artsakhian general election

Presidential election
CandidatePartyFirst roundSecond round
Votes%Votes%
Arayik HarutyunyanFree Motherland - UCA Alliance36,07649.1739,86088.01
Masis MayilyanIndependent19,36026.395,42811.99
Vitaly BalasanyanJustice10,85514.79
David IshkhanyanArmenian Revolutionary Federation1,8732.55
Ashot GhulianDemocratic Party of Artsakh1,6832.29
Hayk KhanumyanNational Revival9621.31
Vahan BadasyanUnited Armenia Party7431.01
David BabayanArtsakh Conservative Party5870.80
Ruslan IsraelyanGeneration of Independence Party3710.51
Christine BalayanIndependent2020.28
Ashot DadayanIndependent1980.27
Bella LalayanIndependent1620.22
Sergey AmiryanIndependent1600.22
Melsik PoghosyanIndependent1410.19
Total73,373100.0045,288100.00
Valid votes73,37396.5545,28896.02
Invalid/blank votes2,6223.451,8763.98
Total votes75,995100.0047,164100.00
Registered voters/turnout104,86672.47104,77745.01
Source: CEC, CEC

Parliamentary election
Logo of the
Free Motherland party
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Free Motherland - UCA Alliance30,01540.8016+1
United Motherland17,68324.049New
Justice5,8677.983New
Armenian Revolutionary Federation4,7586.473–4
Democratic Party of Artsakh4,3145.862–4
New Artsakh Alliance3,3854.600New
National Revival2,1752.9600
Artsakh Conservative Party2,1562.930New
Artsakh Revolutionary Party1,3251.800New
United Armenia Party9301.260New
Generation of Independence Party5510.750New
Communist Party of Artsakh4020.5500
Total73,561100.00330
Valid votes73,56196.82
Invalid/blank votes2,4193.18
Total votes75,980100.00
Registered voters/turnout104,86672.45
Source: CEC, Armenanews

See also

References
  1. freedomhouse.org: Map of Freedom in the World, Freedom House, 2009
  2. freedomhouse.org: Map of Freedom in the World, Freedom House, 2009
  3. freedomhouse.org: Map of Freedom in the World, Freedom House, 2009
  4. "EU does not recognize 'elections' in Nagorno Karabakh". News.Az. 1 May 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  5. Mustafa Pazarlı. "US will not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh's elections". Videonews.us. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  6. Mushvig Mehdiyev. "OIC condemns "elections" in Nagorno-Karabakh as illegal". AzerNews.az. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  7. "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic will cease to exist from Jan 1 2024 - Nagorno-Karabakh authorities". Reuters. 2023-09-28. Archived from the original on 2023-09-28. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
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