Due to the appointment of Robert Kocharyan as Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, it was necessary to hold extraordinary presidential elections. In accordance with Article 1 of the NKR Law on Making Amendments and Supplements to the Law on the Elections of the President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, the Central Electoral Commission scheduled the extraordinary presidential election for September 1, 1997.
The Central Electoral Commission registered the following presidential candidates:
Boris S. Arushanyan – born in 1948, resident of Stepanakert, Deputy of the NKR National Assembly, non-partisan
Arthur B. Tovmasyan – born in 1962, resident of Stepanakert, Deputy of the NKR National Assembly, non-partisan;
Arkady A. Ghukasyan – born in 1957, resident of Stepanakert, the NKR Minister of Foreign Affairs, non-partisan.

According to the protocols submitted by the Regional (municipal) and Precinct Electoral Commissions, the voting results of the extraordinary presidential election were as follows:

Summing up the final results of the election, the Central Electoral Commission recorded that based on the results of the voting Arkady A. Ghukasyan was elected President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic
The election process was monitored and covered by more than 40 international observers and a number of reporters