The Central Election Commission of Abkhazia is the body responsible for conducting national elections and overseeing local elections in Abkhazia. It was first formed on 20 July 1991. [1]
The first chairman of the Central Election Commission was Viacheslav Tsugba, [1] who held the post until he became Prime Minister in 1999.
On 11 October 2004, Sergei Smyr resigned during the height of the crisis following the Presidential election earlier that month. [2] On 14 December, the newly formed Central Election Commission elected former Justice Minister Batal Tabagua as its chairman. [3]
In 2016, Tabagua was not re-appointed to the Central Election Commission, and on 23 December, former State Privatisation Committee Chairman Tamaz Gogia was elected his successor during the first meeting of the CEC in its new composition. [4]
# | Name | From | Until | President | Comments | ||
1 | Viacheslav Tsugba | 20 July 1991 | [1] | 1999 | none | _ | |
Vladislav Ardzinba | _ | ||||||
2 | Sergei Smyr | 1999 | 11 October 2004 | [2] | _ | ||
3 | Batal Tabagua | 14 December 2004 | [3] | 23 December 2016 | [4] | _ | |
Sergei Bagapsh | _ | ||||||
Alexander Ankvab | _ | ||||||
Raul Khajimba | _ | ||||||
4 | Tamaz Gogia | 23 December 2016 | [4] | Present | _ |
Viacheslav Mikhail-ipa Tsugba was the third Prime Minister of the Republic of Abkhazia from December 1999 to May 2001. Before his appointment as prime minister, Tsugba had headed the Central Election Committee, which had overseen the internationally unrecognised simultaneously held October 1999 presidential election and constitutional referendum.
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.
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Presidential elections were held in Abkhazia on 3 October 2004, the first that were competitive. Election law prohibited incumbent President Vladislav Ardzinba from running for a third term and he instead backed Prime Minister Raul Khadjimba, who also enjoyed support from the Russian authorities. Khadjimba's main opponent was Sergei Bagapsh, who was supported by the two major opposition parties, United Abkhazia and Amtsakhara, and later also by Aitaira when their candidate Alexander Ankvab was barred from running in a controversial decision by the Central Election Commission.
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