Breakaway Karabakh leaders declare commitment to democracy
YEREVAN. Feb 20 (Interfax) - The self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) will go down the democratic path of development, NKR president Bako Sahakyan said.
"The current constitutional referendum is yet another statement to the international community that we continue to develop while remaining committed to the democratic values," Sahakyan told journalists in Stepanakert after casting his vote at the referendum.
The NKR will not abandon the chosen path, he said. "We were and remain supporters of the democratic values and life in a free country. We are strengthening and creating additional development opportunities for our country. The constitutional reforms are aimed at building life in this country in the environment of constitutional culture," the president of the breakaway republic said.
For his part, NKR prime minister Araik Arutyunyan told journalists that as a developed democracy Karabakh is not inferior to any other parliamentary country.
"Artsakh is moving down the path of constitutional reforms with the aim to deepen and strengthen the democratic values. Above of all, we do the reforms for ourselves in order to build a country that is comfortable to live in," Arutyunyan said.
On Monday the breakaway republic is holding a referendum on a draft of a new Constitution that involves transition from the parliamentary-presidential to the presidential form of governance.
Under the new constitution, the NKR is called the Republic of Artsakh, although both names are identical.
Under the draft document, the country will not have a prime minister. The government will consist of the state minister and ministers. The state minister will be coordinating the work of the ministers appointed by the president of the republic.
Earlier the co-chairs of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe said that they will not accept the results of the referendum.