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MP Gegham Manukyan, who represents the largest opposition Hayastan faction in Armenia’s parliament, on Monday welcomed the election of a new Artsakh president and deplored the Armenian authorities’ failure to congratulate him.

The Artsakh National Assembly elected Samvel Shahramanyan as the country's new president by a vote of 22 to 1 on Saturday. Shahramanyan replaces Arayik Harutyunyan who resigned on September 1.

“This is a crucial moment for Artsakh, when the country is facing serious military, political and humanitarian challenges, but Artsakh elected a new president, and the Armenian people expect him to act decisively and resolutely to unite the public and confront all challenges,” Manukyan said at the autumn session of the Armenian parliament.

“The Armenian society, the Armenian people congratulated Samvel Shahramanyan, while some countries, including Ukraine and Turkey, condemned the elections. Strangely enough, official Yerevan has not yet extended congratulations to newly-elected Artsakh President Samvel Shahramanyan,” he remarked.