Referendum on Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Constitution May Take Place in February

The referendum on constitutional amendments in the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh republic is likely to take place in February, deputy speaker of National Assembly, the republic’s parliament, Vahram Balayan, said Sunday.

YEREVAN (Sputnik) — The referendum will be conducted if the parliament approves the amendments bill, the deputy speaker underlined.

Map of Nagorno-Karabakh

© Wikipedia / Aivazovsky

"The referendum will most likely take place next February," Balayan told the Armenian News.

The Nagorno-Karabakh parliament will vote on the bill on January 7. The document envisages the change of form of governance in the self-proclaimed country – from the current semi-presidential republic to the presidential republic.

The parliament also approved the proposal of the ARF-D parliamentary faction to add the provision to the bill that one and the same person can not be elected as a prosecutor general and chairman of the Control Chamber more than twice, Balayan added.

Azerbaijan's Armenian-dominated breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh proclaimed its independence in 1991. After the military conflict ended in 1994, Azerbaijan lost control over the region. Violence erupted in Nagorno-Karabakh on April 2, 2016 and led to multiple casualties. The parties to the conflict signed a Russian-brokered ceasefire on April 5, but mutual accusations have not stopped so far.