Repeat Votes for Two ‘Parliament Seats’ Set in Abkhazia
Kremlin-backed authorities have slated repeat “parliamentary elections” for one seat each in the city of Sokhumi and the town of Gudauta, on May 28 and May 14, respectively.
Holding a repeat poll in district #8, in Sokhumi, became necessary after candidates Naur Narmania and Leon Gubaz each received 989 votes in the “parliamentary runoffs” of March 26.
Meanwhile, in district #18, Gudauta, candidates Leonid Lakerbaia and Beslan Tarkil both fell short of securing a first-round victory on March 12. As only two candidates were vying for the seat, Abkhaz legislation required holding a repeat vote instead of the runoff.
Meanwhile, in the “parliamentary elections,” 33 members have already received the single-mandate majoritarian seats for five-year terms. They are set to convene no later than April 12, Sokhumi-based Apsnypress news agency reported.
Elections in Abkhazia are considered illegitimate by Tbilisi, as well as the most of international community except Russia and the several states that recognize the independence of the occupied region.
Some 260,000 ethnic Georgians, that made the largest ethnic group in pre-war Abkhazia, remain uprooted from their homes.
Further, some 30,000 ethnic Georgians in the Abkhaz-controlled Gali district are not allowed to vote after being stripped of their Abkhaz passports in 2014 and 2017.
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