ArmInfo. "Having lost" Artsakh, the "former" authorities will forever bury the idea of their own return to power, although, in my opinion, they should have done this a long time ago. Director of the Armenian Institute of International Relations and Security Stepan Safaryan expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.
"These people realized that the power in Artsakh remains their last hope for a return. In this light, I regard the recent calls of Robert Kocharyan for the actual riot of Artsakh against Armenia as a threat to national security. Such calls are the preparation of the "former" authorities for their last battle for power in Artsakh and they are very dangerous, "he said.
Commenting on the voicing of hopes by the same Kocharyan and Republicans for holding early parliamentary elections in Armenia, the policy analyst described them as futile. According to him, there are no grounds for holding early elections today. And all the efforts of the "former" authorities in this direction have already crashed, the "hot autumn" did not work, and today there is a threat looming over their interests in Artsakh.
Safaryan, in this light, refers to Kocharyan's statements about the pressure of Nikol Pashinyan on Artsakh's presidential candidates in order to get "his" president, with irony. According to his estimates, Kocharyan himself did everything at the time, to become an acceptable candidate of the NKR Supreme Council acceptable to the ANM instead of Arthur Mkrtchyan, after which he was appointed prime minister by the order of the Armenian president.
"Thus, Kocharyan blindly and dutifully followed the orders of Levon Ter-Petrosyan. He thereby proved that Artsakh is not an independent state, that he is a appointee of the Armenian president in Artsakh, whom the latter can move whenever and wherever. In this light, it seems to me, that Kocharyan's better not to speak out on such topics at all, "Safaryan summed up.
In 2020, parliamentary and presidential elections will be held in the Republic of Artsakh. Current President of the Republic, Bako Sahakyan, could run for another two terms, in 2020 and 2025. However, he stated that he would not run. Former Minister of Defense, Artsakh hero Samvel Babayan, as well as former secretary of the Security Council Vitali Balasanyan announced their intention to participate in them. The candidate of the current government is considered former Prime Minister of the Republic, leader of the Free Homeland party Arayik Harutyunyan, as well as Speaker of the Parliament Ashot Ghoulyan. Thus, the only candidate not affiliated with the current authorities is Artsakh Foreign Minister Masis Mayilyan.