June 12, 2018 - 12:28 AMT
Karabakh President says won’t seek fourth term in 2020 election

Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) President Bako Sahakyan has declared that he will not seek a fourth term in office in 2020.

“Under the current Constitution, a presidential election will be held in Artsakh in 2020,” Sahakyan told reporters.

“I want to officially declare that I will not participate in those elections as a presidential candidate.”

Sahakyan added that he will only take part in the election as a citizen of Karabakh who is electing a President.

The decision, according to him, stems from the country’s system of values, as well as “the urgent need to build a democratic and civilized nation.”

Sahakyan took an oath and assumed office for the third time in September 2017 after he was re-elected the president of Artsakh for a third term on July 19, 2017.

Sahakyan is the fourth president of Karabakh. He was first elected as President on July 19, 2007, and on July 19, 2012 he was re-elected for a second five-year term, receiving around two-third of the votes.