Armenia is the guarantor of the right of the people of Karabakh to expression of free will, and this is a fact. This is what deputy of the Prosperous Armenia Party Artyom Tsarukyan declared during a joint press conference held in Stepanakert today.

In particular, Tsarukyan highly appreciated the work done by the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic).

“The Central Electoral Commission properly ensured sanitation and safety measures near the entrances to polling stations. Yes, this created some problems in terms of timing, but the people showed responsibility,” Tsarukyan stated.

The Central Electoral Commission of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has officially released the preliminary results of the presidential elections held on March 31. Based on the results, none of the candidates garnered more than 50% of the votes, and a second stage has to be held on April 14.

The top three candidates are Arayik Harutyunyan (36,076 votes or 49.26%), Masis Mayilyan (19,360 votes or 26.4%) and Vitaly Balasanyan (10,755 votes or 14.7%).