Supreme Court of Unrecognized Abkhazia Cancels Presidential Election Results

The court declared the second round of the presidential election invalid, and the final protocols of the CEC of the republic invalid. Repeated elections should be held in Abkhazia. On Friday, January 10 the Supreme Court cassation board of the unrecognized republic of Abkhazia, declared invalidboth; the second round of the presidential elections held last fall in the republic, and the final protocols of the republic’s Central Election Commission. This is stated in a message published on the court’s website. The court also decided to call for re-election of the president within the time frame established by the constitution. According to the Apsny agency, opposition supporters welcomed this decision with thunderous applause. In turn, representatives of the current president, Raul Khajimba, said that the decision would be appealed. Majority issue The second round of presidential elections was held in Abkhazia on September 8, 2019. On September 9, the republic’s Central Election Commission announced the victory of Raul Khajimba, who gained 47.39 percent of the vote anticipating Alkhas Kvitsinia, leader of the opposition Amtsakhar party, by 1.22 percent. Immediately after the announcement of the voting results, nine parties and public organizations demanded that the elections be declared void. They stated that Khajimba was to get not a simple, but an absolute majority of votes, recalls the “Caucasian Knot” online publication. On the back ofconflict The decision of the Supreme Court on canceling the results of the second round of the presidential election was taken against the backdrop of a sharply aggravated civil confrontation in the republic. The day before, about a thousand opposition supporters gathered in front of the building of the Presidential Administration of Abkhazia. They demanded his resignation, as well as new elections. Later, the opposition seized the building and took possession of the weapons in it. In the evening of the same day, the parliament of Abkhazia adopted an appeal to Khajimba to voluntarily resign as head of state to stabilize the situation. In response, the president said that he would remain at his post, and called an “attempted coup” the events in Sukhumi in his administration. The independence of Abkhazia, the former autonomous republic within the Georgian SSR, is recognized only by a few countries, including Russia. Georgia considers it part of its territory occupied by the Russian Federation.