On May 23, the voting at the parliamentary elections in Nagorno-Karabakh ended at 8:00 p.m. local time. According to the latest reports of the NKR Central Electoral Commission, 59% of voters paritipated in the process, the minimum required turnout being 25%.

A number of international observers stated no major violations were registered. The CEC received only two written complaints about inaccuracies in the voters’ lists.

The preliminary results of the voting will be released within 48 hours. The final results will be published within 5 days. In case of complaints, the term will be extended to seven days.

The newly-formed Parliament will be the fifth one in Nagorno-Karabakh. The first elections to the NKR Supreme Soviet were held in 1991, to be followed by 1995, 2000 and 2005 elections.

The parliamentary elections were held on a mixed proportional and single-member basis. Four political parties laid claims to 17 out of 33 seats in the NKR Parliament: Free Homeland led by NKR Prime Minister Ara Harutyunyan (a 35-member list), Democratic Party of Artsakh led by Parliament Speaker Ashot Ghulyan (a 32-member list), Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnakstutyun (ARFD) (a 10-member list), and the Communist Party of Artsakh led by Hrant Melkumyan (a 5-member list). Forty-six candidates claim 16 seats in 16 single-member constituencies. The voters’ lists include 94,900 citizens.

At the last parliamentary elections in Artsakh on June 19, 2005, by proportional representation the Democratic Party of Artsakh received 12 seats, Free Motherland, ten, the ARF Dashnaktsutyun-Movement-88, three. The other eight seats were taken by independent candidates.

L.A.