Burjanadze Says Abkhaz Polls Illegal
Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze said while commenting on the parliamentary elections in breakaway Abkhazia scheduled for March 4 that ?Abkhaz elections will not be recognized until all those internally displaced persons who lived on the territory of Abkhazia before the conflict participate in these elections.?
She said that the population of the Gali district of breakaway Abkhazia will themselves decide whether or not to participate in the elections.
?We, on our part, will do our best to avoid any provocations and to ensure that these people [population of the Gali district] are protected as much as possible,? Burjanadze said.
The Abkhaz side has accused Tbilisi of carrying out an anti-election campaign in Gali, claiming that the Georgian special services are behind a Georgian paramilitary group operating under the name ?Patriots for Abkhazia? in the Gali District of the breakaway region, which has recently emerged to crack down on, as it says, ?Georgian traitors? collaborating with the secessionist authorities of Abkhazia. The Georgian side denies any links with the group.
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