Minister of Foreign Affairs of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), presidential candidate Masis Mayilyan has issued the following statement:
“Dear compatriots,
I reaffirm the statement that I had made on April 5 about the public’s expectations from the nationwide elections and the current realities.
Once again, I cordially congratulate my political opponents, all the political parties and figures that endorsed me and all of my supporters and express special gratitude to the coordinator of my central headquarters.
I consider the 26% of votes that I garnered during the first round of the elections a major success, taking into consideration the conditions in which the elections were held, including the information war that was declared against me and my political team and that is still going on.
For my political team, the results of the second round of the presidential election haven’t had and don’t have any significance at all. Before the second round, we simply used the free airtime to call on citizens to not go to the polling stations due to the risk of spread of the coronavirus pandemic, and our calls didn’t go unanswered. On April 14, nearly 30,000 citizens didn’t go to the polling stations and stayed home.
As foreign minister of Artsakh, taking into consideration the importance of the nationwide elections in terms of foreign policy, as well as taking note of the information released by the Central Electoral Commission following the second round of elections, I wish the likely president-elect Arayik Harutyunyan success.
To prevent the spread of the pandemic as much as possible, I call on citizens to do everything they can to ensure effectiveness of the measures that are being taken in the post-election period. I also wish the incumbent and to-be-formed authorities of Artsakh success in resisting the pandemic and the new challenges arising from it. Protecting the health of our citizens and preventing the risks posing a threat to national security are above everything else.
Be healthy, spare and protect yourselves for the bright days to come."
