STEPANAKERT. – Regular fifth congress of the ruling Democratic Party of Artsakh (DPA) was convened Saturday in Stepanakert, capital city of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/NKR).

And the congress authorized the National Assembly (NA) Democracy Faction to nominate incumbent President Bako Sahakyan’s candidacy for the NKR presidential election which the NA will conduct in July, the DPA press service informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

As reported earlier, the Republic of Artsakh NA will elect the country’s new president, between July 19 and 29.

“The National Assembly will elect the President until 2020—for the transitional period,” Davit Babayan, Head of the Central Information Department of the Office of the NKR President and Deputy Head of the President’s Office, told Armenian News-NEWS.am. “Popular elections, as is the order, will be [conducted] after 2020.”

On February 20, Artsakh held a constitutional referendum, and 87 percent of the electorate voted for the proposed constitutional amendments.

Pursuant to these amendments, a transition has been made from a semi-presidential to a presidential system of government in Artsakh.