Analyst: Campaign in Artsakh revolves around Araik Harutyunyan, Masis  Mayilyan and Samvel Babayan

ArmInfo.The campaign intrigue in Artsakh revolves around Araik Harutyunyan, Masis Mayilyan and Samvel Babayan. A similar opinion was expressed by ArmInfo Director  of the Armenian Center for National Strategic Studies Manvel  Sargsyan.

"I came back from Artsakh the other day and, starting from my own  observations, I can say that these people are the most mentioned by  the people of Artsakh in their conversations. I practically did not  hear the names of other candidates. And of course, there is talk  everywhere about buying votes, at the end after all, the power in  Artsakh is still the same, "he noted.

Parliamentary and presidential elections in the Republic of Artsakh  will be held on March 31. As candidates in the Artsakh CEC, 12 people  registered. Including ex-Minister of Artsakh, leader of the Free  Homeland party Araik Harutyunyan and Foreign Minister of Artsakh  Masis Mayilyan. Ex-Minister of Defense of Artsakh Samvel Babayan and  his party "United Homeland" announced support for the candidacy of  Mayilyan.

According to him, the situation began to gradually clear up after the  court did not allow Babayan to take part in the elections on his own.  Nevertheless, the latter has many supporters and he decided to  support another, alternative, opposition candidate.

In general, the analyst assesses the pre-election situation in  Artsakh as quite interesting, primarily due to the large influence of  changes in Armenia on the mood in Artsakh. As a result, for the first  time in Artsakh, not counting the last elections to local  authorities, over the past decades a situation has arisen in which  voters will decide everything. There are simply no other factors  capable of ensuring victory for any of the candidates.

"The authorities in Artsakh still have the previous regime. The  regime is weakened, having already lost part of its personnel and,  consequently, its influence on the people. Decades of atmosphere of  fear, the impact of war, the use of blackmail and administrative  resources in the elections are behind. Artsakh people found  themselves face to face with a new themselves as a phenomenon - an  opportunity of free choice that they never had. And this opportunity  scares them a bit and prevents them from concentrating, "the ACNIS  director summed up.