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 Abkhaziaportal |
Presidential elections were held in the Republic of Abkhazia on 22 March 2020 following the decision of the Supreme Court to annul the results of the 2019 election on 10 January, and the subsequent resignation of President Raul Khajimba due to protests against his presidency. [2]
Aslan Bzhania was considered the frontrunner in the elections, [3] [4] [5] and was elected with around 59% of the vote.
| Presidential candidate | Career | Supporting parties | Vice presidential candidate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adgur Ardzinba | Current Minister for Economy and Vice Prime Minister | Apsny, [6] Aruaa, [7] [6] Forum for the National Unity of Abkhazia, People's Party of Abkhazia [8] | Arda Enverovich Ashub | |
| Aslan Bzhania | Former Head of the State Security Service of Abkhazia | Amtsakhara, [9] United Abkhazia [10] | Badr Gunba | |
| Leonid Dzapshba | Former Minister for Internal Affairs of Abkhazia | Akzaara | Viktor Shamilovich Khashba | |
| Candidate | Running mate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aslan Bzhania | Badr Gunba | 53,741 | 58.92 |
| Adgur Ardzinba | Arda Enverovich Ashub | 33,686 | 36.93 |
| Leonid Dzapshba | Viktor Shamilovich Khashba | 2,114 | 2.32 |
| None of the above | 1,666 | 1.83 | |
| Total | 91,207 | 100.00 | |
| Valid votes | 91,207 | 95.90 | |
| Invalid/blank votes | 3,902 | 4.10 | |
| Total votes | 95,109 | 100.00 | |
| Registered voters/turnout | 132,916 | 71.56 | |
| Source: Abkhaz World | |||
After the elections results were announced, Bzhania gave a press conference. He announced planned constitutional reforms and that Alexander Ankvab would be the next prime minister. [11] [12]
Raul Jumkovich Khajimba is an Abkhazian politician, and served as President of Abkhazia from 25 September 2014 until 12 January 2020. He was also Chairman of the Forum for the National Unity of Abkhazia from 2010 to 2015. Khajimba previously held the offices of Vice President (2005–2009), Prime Minister (2003–2004) and Defence Minister (2002–2003). He unsuccessfully ran for president in 2004, 2009 and 2011. He resigned the presidency in 2020 due to protests against him.
Amtsakhara is the main opposition party in Abkhazia.
The prime minister of Abkhazia is the de facto head of government of the partially recognized Republic of Abkhazia, that is de jure part of Georgia.
The office of Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia was created on 17 May 1993, during the 1992–1993 war with Georgia. Due to the diplomatic isolation of Abkhazia, which remains widely unrecognised, the role of the foreign minister has been restricted mostly to negotiations over resolving the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict. Empirical data nevertheless show that Abkhazia's Foreign Ministry also enacts diplomatic relations, such as the sending of diplomatic notes, with various countries across the world, including Nauru, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Syria. It is also active in managing relations with other post-Soviet de facto states such as South Ossetia, Transnistria, and the Lugansk People's Republic.
Sergei Shamba is a senior politician from Abkhazia. He is currently a member of the People's Assembly of Abkhazia and Chairman of United Abkhazia. He was Prime Minister of Abkhazia under President Sergei Bagapsh from 13 February 2010 until 27 September 2011. Between 1997 and 2010 he had been Minister for Foreign Affairs under both Bagapsh and his predecessor Vladislav Ardzinba, with only a half-year interruption in 2004. Shamba has twice unsuccessfully participated in presidential elections, in 2004 and 2011. He has been a staunch proponent for dialogue between Abkhazia and Georgia.
Aleksandr Zolotinskovich Ankvab is an Abkhaz politician and businessman who was president of Abkhazia from 29 May 2011, until his resignation on 1 June 2014. Under president Sergei Bagapsh, he previously served as prime minister from 2005 to 2010 and vice-president from 2010 to 2011. He was appointed prime minister again on 23 April 2020.
The Government of the Republic of Abkhazia governs the partially recognised Republic of Abkhazia.
The vice president of the Abkhaz Republic, a partially recognized state, internationally regarded as a part of Georgia, is the first in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new president of Abkhazia upon the death, resignation, or removal of the president. Additionally, the vice president would assume the presidency in case the president becomes incapable of carrying out the presidential duties.
Abkhazia and South Ossetia are disputed territories in the Caucasus. Most countries recognise them as part of Georgia, while Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Syria regard them as independent. Russia's initial recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia occurred in the aftermath of the Russo-Georgian War in 2008. The government of Georgia considers the republics to be Russian-occupied territories.
Abkhazia–Nicaragua relations refers to bilateral foreign relations between the Republic of Abkhazia and Nicaragua. Nicaragua recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia on September 5, 2008.
Presidential elections were held in Abkhazia on 12 December 2009, the fourth such elections since the post of President of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia was created in 1994. The result was a victory for incumbent president Sergei Bagapsh, who received 63% of the vote, winning a second term in office. Bagapsh competed against four opposition candidates: former vice president and prime minister Raul Khajimba, who came second behind Bagapsh in the 2004 presidential election, and newcomers Beslan Butba, Zaur Ardzinba and Vitali Bganba. Khajimba had stated that he, Ardzinba and Butba would support each other should one of them reach the second round of the election. Bagapsh was inaugurated on 12 February 2010.
The Government of President Sergei Bagapsh was the Government of the Republic of Abkhazia from 2005 until 2011.
The Abkhazian Revolution took place in 2014, when President Aleksandr Ankvab resigned after hundreds of demonstrators stormed his office. After mass protests in the capital Sukhumi and the occupation of his office on 27 May, Ankvab fled to his hometown of Gudauta and ultimately resigned on 1 June, after previously denouncing the demonstration as an attempted coup d'état.
Presidential elections were held in the Republic of Abkhazia on 24 August 2014. The sixth such elections since the post of President of Abkhazia was created in 1994, they were held early due to the resignation of President Alexander Ankvab on 1 June 2014 following the 2014 Abkhazian political crisis. Four candidates contested the elections, which were won by Raul Khadjimba, who received just over 50% of the vote.
The Government of President Raul Khajimba was the Government of the Republic of Abkhazia from 2014 until 2020.
The State Security Service of Abkhazia is the principal security and intelligence agency of Abkhazia.
Adgur Amiranovich Ardzinba is an Abkhazian politician, formerly the Minister for Economy of Abkhazia from 2015 to 2020.
Aslan Georgievich Bzhania is an Abkhaz politician that has served as the President of Abkhazia since 23 April 2020. He was the Head of the State Security Service from 2010 to 2014, and one of the leaders of the opposition in Abkhazia from 2016. He ran in the 2019 presidential election, but was forced to withdraw due to poisoning. He won the subsequent 2020 presidential election.
Presidential elections were held in the partially recognized Republic of Abkhazia in 2019. As no candidate gathered more than 50% of the votes in the first round 25 August, a second was held on 8 September between the top two candidates, incumbent President Raul Khajimba of the Forum for the National Unity of Abkhazia and Alkhas Kvitsinia of Amtsakhara. Khajimba was subsequently re-elected with a margin of less than 2% in the second round. On September 20, the Supreme Court in Abkhazia declared the decision of the Central Election Commission to recognize incumbent Raul Khajimba’s victory in the second round of the presidential election as legal.
Parliamentary elections were held in Abkhazia on 12 March 2022, with a second round taking place on 26 March.
