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(Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–On Sunday, there was held de facto presidential election in the Georgian breakaway region Abkhazia.

Preliminary results show that Raul Khajimba won with 50.57 percent of the votes, according to Batal Tabaghua, head of the region’s election commission, quoted by ApsnyPress. Aslan Bzhania received 36 percent, Merab Kishmaria 6.4 percent and Leonid Dzapshba 3.4 percent.

Ria Novosti reported that voter turnout by 16:00 was 56 percent, above the 50 percent minimum threshold for the election to be declared valid, according to Tabaghua.

Candidates for de facto president were Aslan Bzhania, Levan Dzapshba, Merab Kishmaria and Raul Khajimba, who was tipped to win.

According to ApsnyPress, 100 international observers from ‘24 countries’ have come to observe the election, including Russia, Nauru, South Ossetia, Nagorno Karabakh, Nauru, Armenia, Japan and others. The news agency wrote that among the observers, there are citizens of Italy, Belgium, Luxemburg, UK, Ukraine, France, Finland, India, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Brazil and San Marino.

The special election was announced after ex-president Alexander Ankvab resigned on June 1.

Georgia’s foreign ministry on Sunday issued a statement saying that the so-called election in Abkhazia is a violation of fundamental principles of international law.

“This illegal act represents yet another unsuccessful attempt at disguising the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of people by elements of ostensible democratic governance,” the statement reads.

The ministry called on the international community to condemn the illegal election based on its firm position with respect to Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The European Union doesn’t recognize the election in Abkhazia according to a short statement published on Sunday.

“In view of reports about ‘presidential elections’ in the Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia on 24 August, we recall that the European Union does not recognize the constitutional and legal framework within which these elections have taken place.”