National Assembly (Artsakh)
The National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh (Armenian: Արցախի Հանրապետության Ազգային ժողով, romanized: Artsakhi Hanrapetut'yan Azgayin zhoghov; often shortened: Ազգային ժողով, ԱԺ, Azgayin zhoghov, AZh) is the legislative branch of the government of the Republic of Artsakh.
National Assembly
Ազգային ժողով
Azgayin Zhoghov
November 28, 1991
33
Government (16)
Government support (8)
- ARF (3)
- Justice (2)
- Democratic Party (2)
- Independents (1)
Opposition (9)
Plans were in place to move the National Assembly from Stepanakert to Shusha on 9 May 2022 to mark the 30th anniversary of the capture of Shusha,[2][3] but the city came under the control of Azerbaijan during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War.
Following an Azerbaijani offensive on 19 September 2023, Artsakh agreed to dissolve itself by 1 January 2024, as de jure.[4] In December 2023, this decision was subsequently declared not valid by the Artsakh president.[5][6] The Assembly kept functioning in exile from Yerevan.[7]
In early March 2024, Azerbaijani authorities demolished the National Assembly of Artsakh building.[8][9]
Electoral system[edit]
The constitution of Artsakh, amended in 2017, stated that all members to National Assembly shall be elected for a five-year term through a proportional electoral system. The National Assembly had to be composed of no less than 27 and no more than 33 MPs. The number of the MPs had to be defined by the Electoral Code.[10]
Prior to the passing of the 2017 constitutional referendum, the National Assembly had 33 members, 22 of whom (17 before 2015) were elected using party-list proportional representation, and the rest elected in single seat constituencies using first-past-the-post voting.
The National Assembly had 7 standing committees:
List of National Assembly members by convocation[edit]
6th Convocation[edit]
The members of the 6th convocation of the National Assembly were elected on 3 May 2015.