New Political Party Set Up in Abkhazia

Beslan Butba, a businessman and former Abkhaz lawmaker, has launched a new political party, the Party of Economic Development, Apsnipress news agency reported.

The party, Butba said during the inaugural assembly on September 26, would not be ?oppositional.?

?We will focus on the economy; we will lay-out political proposals; we will engage in increasing the political awareness of the population and stimulating their active involvement in public life,? Butba said.

Butba, who once chaired the committee for foreign affairs in the parliament, failed to retain his seat in the legislative body in the March 2007 elections.

The leader of the new party owns a newly launched TV station, Abaza, and the newspaper Echo of Abkhazia.

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