Abkhaz Supreme Court Confirms Bagapsh President-Elect
 |
| Sergey Bagapsh, 55, becomes breakaway Abkhazia’s new leader. |
Presidential candidate Raul Khajimba, who along with the local government’s support also enjoys backing from Moscow, appealed the Supreme Court, demanding the cancellation of the Abkhaz Central Election Commission’s October 11 protocol, which declared Sergey Bagapsh president-elect, with 50.08% of the vote.
Itar-Tass news agency reported that the decision by the Supreme Court triggered a protest by Raul Khajimba’s supporters, who stormed the court’s building in the capital Sokhumi; however Khajimba, who denounced the court’s ruling, urged his supporters to remain calm.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling is illegal,” Itar-Tass quoted Khajimba as saying.
Sergey Bagapsh, 55, will replace ailing Vladislav Ardzinba, who has been the president of Abkhazia for the past decade.
Influential Abkhaz businessman Sergey Bagapsh enjoyed strong support from the leading Abkhazian opposition movements as well as the backing of an influential group of Abkhaz War Veterans. Sergey Bagapsh held the Prime Minister’s position of the unrecognized republic from 1999-2000. Since 2000 he has been the chief of the Abkhaz power company ChernoMorEnergo.
Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Goga Khaindrava said on October 27 that in the event that opposition candidate Sergey Bagapsh takes over as President of Abkhazia, the Georgian population in the Gali district might avoid further pressure from the Abkhaz side.
Khaindrava said that the votes cast in favor of Bagapsh in the Gali district of Abkhazia largely determined the opposition candidate’s success in the October 3 presidential elections.
Before and after the October 3 presidential elections, Sergey Bagapsh, who has ethnic Georgian wife, was constantly accused by his opponents of pro-Georgian stance. However, in all of his recent public speeches Bagapsh emphasized Russia’s vital role for Abkhazia.
Georgian State Minister Goga Khaindrava also said on October 27, that the results of the elections have demonstrated the attitude of the Abkhaz people towards Russia, by not supporting “Russian President Putin’s favorite Raul Khajimba in the elections.”
After a bilateral meeting with the Russian President Vladimir Putin in late August, then-Abkhaz Prime Minister Raul Khajimba immediately became a frontrunning presidential candidate. Many Russian politicians, including parliamentarians were visiting Abkhazia before the polls, to support his candidacy.
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
