Parliamentary Factions Demand Resignation

The factions of the Artsakh National Assembly "Justice", "ARF-Dashnaktsutyun", and "Artsakh People's Party" have urged Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan to resign.

“Dear compatriots, during these days in May 2020, new authorities, elected as a result of the March 31 and April 14 elections, assumed their powers in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Artsakh: the President of the Republic and the seventh convocation of the National Assembly. Setting aside our political assessments regarding the organization of the 2020 nationwide elections, the electoral campaign, and the results, we must acknowledge that the past year has been marked by numerous trials and disastrous developments, culminating in the war imposed on us in the fall of 2020.

During the past year, we faced multi-layered humanitarian crises created as a result of the war: thousands of martyrs, injured, hundreds missing, captives, the loss of a significant part of the Republic of Artsakh, tens of thousands of refugees, and a substantial loss of national wealth. This is what we are left with a year after the national elections and the inauguration of the president.

As a result of the 44-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan, Artsakh is now confronted with political, military, economic, social, and demographic challenges, the prompt and effective resolution of which is crucial for the existence and future of the Republic of Artsakh.

Immediately after the war, evaluating the situation with the four parliamentary factions of the National Assembly, we proposed that the de facto leaders of Armenia and Artsakh resign to open the way for the necessary changes and crisis management in both Armenian republics. Considering the constitutional regulations of the Republic of Artsakh, we did not insist on the immediate resignation of the President at that time; moreover, we expressed our readiness to create an environment conducive to consensus through political consultations. Some hope existed that the incumbent president, Arayik Harutyunyan, would correctly understand the situation.

However, subsequent developments indicated that Arayik Harutyunyan is not interested in maintaining the agreements reached and is guided by the desires of the discredited authorities of the Republic of Armenia. After the humiliating trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020, in the past six months, the government led by the President of Artsakh and the politically inconsistent coalitions formed and disbanded in the Parliament, driven by narrow interests, have provided no adequate explanation and proposal regarding the disaster we have faced and the strategies for overcoming it.

On the contrary, the President of Artsakh and his inflated governmental team launched inexplicable propaganda campaigns, attributing the blame for the failures and loss in the disastrous war to the previous authorities, the army, reserve officers and volunteers, and ultimately, to the people themselves.

Today's authorities in Artsakh strive to resemble the current authorities in Armenia, which continually prove their inability and incapacity to confront the ever-growing internal and external challenges. Lies, insults, slander, and division of the public into ‘ours’ and ‘not ours’ have characterized the environment created during the one-year tenure of the President of the Republic of Artsakh and the governmental authorities under his jurisdiction.

In light of these realities, the factions of the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh "Justice", "ARF-Dashnaktsutyun", and "Artsakh Democratic Party" are renewing their demand for the resignation of the President of Artsakh as presented in the declaration of November 10, 2020. They are calling on Arayik Harutyunyan to soberly assess the situation, reaffirm his willingness to resign, and announce the initiation of early elections in accordance with the Constitution of Artsakh.

At the same time, considering the prevailing public sentiments among the population of Artsakh, we demand that the current president and the authorities refrain from any actions supporting the current authorities in Armenia during the anticipated early elections and from using state resources for that purpose,” the statement says.