On January 13, 2008, there will be additional parliamentary elections in two precincts in Karabakh. One of those precincts is the 4th precinct of Stepanakert, in which Ara Harutyunyan was elected as deputy before being appointed as prime minister. The elections in this precinct may be interesting due to the fact that the main competitor of president Bako Shakyan, Masis Mayilyan may run for parliament. The latter was dismissed from the foreign affairs deputy minister’s position after Bako Sahakyan was elected president, which was not welcomed by some political groups in Armenia and Karabakh. According to our sources from Karabakh, this suggestion has been proposed by the authorities and they have suggested Masis Mayilyan to support him be elected. Certainly, after the presidential elections in Karabakh it was clear that Masis Mayilyan had strong positions in Karabakh without the help of the authorities too.
