Saakashvili Hails ‘Boycott’ of Polls by Voters in Gali

The Georgian population of the Gali District of breakaway Abkhazia “showed heroism” by boycotting local elections in the unrecognized republic, President Saakashvili said on February 12.

“The local population has demonstratively rejected [participating in the election] and by doing this they have voiced their protest; it was passive civil resistance by the local population,” President Saakashvili told reporters while visiting the South Ossetian conflict zone.

Local elections in Abkhazia were held on February 11. Although the Abkhaz side reported “high voter turnout” in the Georgian-populated Gali District, Georgian sources said the local population boycotted the elections.

Halvdan Skard, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Council of Europe, said on February 12 that elections in Abkhazia “violated the principle of the territorial integrity of Georgia” and “were incompatible with European values and standards in this field.”

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