Vahagn Aleksanyan, deputy of the KP of the RA NA, wrote on his Facebook page:
“And as long as people continue to talk about the denial of Artsakh’s self-determination, let me present the greatest, glaring example of that denial.”
Presidential elections were held in the self-proclaimed NKR in 1996—the first presidential elections.
Robert Kocharyan received 89% of the votes in the elections and became the first president of Artsakh. Let me say it one more time: EIGHTY-NINE percent vote.
What would the NKR president, who denied self-determination and received 89% of the people’s vote of confidence, do? Naturally, he would hold office for the planned five years until 2001; he would try to raise the issue of international recognition of Artsakh and deal with defense, social and other issues. Everything that the president of the republic should deal with.
But what is Kocharyan doing just one year after being elected to the position? Of course, he submitted his resignation and became an appointed official Armenia Prime Minister.
To understand the absurdity of the situation, imagine that the elected president of an arbitrary state known to you resigns and becomes an official of another state just one year after being elected. Could you try to find two or three cases? It won’t work.
But the problem is that those implementing this should have realized that when you try to present Nagorno-Karabakh as a self-determined republic, its elected president, the first person, resigns just one year after being elected and agrees to become an appointed official in another republic. So the international community will take the fact of your self-determination as seriously as you.”
