[PHOTO (STEPANAKERT) Dr. Hugh McDermott received his "Gratitude Medal" on behalf of the President of the Republic of Artsakh]SYDNEY: The New South Wales Member for Prospect, Dr. Hugh McDermott MP has congratulated the "freedom-loving people of the Armenian Republic of Artsakh" for their democratic elections held this week, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).
McDermott, who visited Artsakh as part of the ANC-AU's Federal-led Australian Delegation to Armenia last year, posted his congratulations on his Facebook and Twitter profiles on Thursday 2nd April 2020.
"Despite COVID-19 fears – although no case has yet been reported in Artsakh – 76,471 of 105,251 (over 72%) registered voters cast their ballots and elected a very competitive parliament consisting of five political parties and alliances, making up 33
seats of the National Assembly," McDermott said.
"The presidential vote will go into a second round of voting on April 14, as none of the 14 candidates managed to attract the required 50% + 1 in the first round. The two final contenders, who received the top two votes, are people I met in Artsakh and NSW, former Prime Minister Mr. Arayik Harutyunyan and Foreign Minister Mr. Masis Mayilyan."
He added: "I wish them luck. And once again, congratulations to the people of the Republic of Artsakh."
McDermott also addressed that he recently became aware that his visit to Artsakh in September 2019 has earned him a place on the Azerbaijani dictatorship's infamous blacklist, something he called an "honour".
McDermott told his followers: "I
've just discovered that I have been blacklisted by the authoritarian Azerbaijani dictatorship for my support of a free and democratic Artsakh (Karabakh)
. What an honour!"
"I now join with Baroness Caroline Cox, International Human Rights Lawyer Geoffrey Robertson AO QC, and hundreds of democracy loving MPs, journalists, academics, artists and human rights advocates. Couldn't be prouder," he added.
ANC-AU Executive Director Haig Kayserian thanked McDermott for his friendship to the Armenian-Australian community, who value the preservation of the rights to self-determination of the people of the Republic of Artsakh as a priority.
"Mr. McDermott's words congratulating Stepanakert on their elections will be warmly received, as the Republic of Artsakh knows she has a genuine and unwavering partner in our state's Member for Prospect," Kayserian said.
"We also congratulate Mr. McDermott on the honour of earning his place alongside current and former colleagues on the blacklist of Azerbaijan, which is a corrupt oil-rich, corrupt dictatorship that has continued to illegally breach the Nagorno Karabakh ceasefire despite global calls to down arms amid the coronavirus pandemic."
Australians on the Azerbaijani persona-non-grata list include current and former parliamentarians, led by New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Federal Member for Bennelong John Alexander, Speaker of the NSW Legislative Assembly Jonathan O'Dea, Shadow NSW Treasurer Walt Secord, NSW Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) Rev. Fred Nile, and former NSW MLCs Amanda Fazio, David Clarke and Marie Ficarra.
Australian human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson and several members of the Armenian National Committee of Australia are also on the list.
