Abkhazia presidential election 2019

Abkhazia’s supreme court rejects opposition lawsuit, Khajimba re-elected

By | September 20th, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: , , |

TBILISI, DFWatch--The Supreme Court in Abkhazia on Friday rejected a lawsuit filed by presidential candidate Alhaz Kvitsinia, seeking to annul the results of the runoff elections and call a new election. Although Kvitsinia's team will appeal the ruling, it is already clear that Kremlin-backed Raul Khajimba, a former KGB operative, has won the election. In the [...]

Opposition in Abkhazia demands de facto election result canceled

By | September 14th, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: , , |

Opposition candidate Alhaz Kvitsinia. TBILISI, DFWatch--The opposition in Abkhazia is planning a rally in Sokhumi on Tuesday, which will be held in parallel with a court hearing in a lawsuit filed by the opposition candidate Alkhaz Kvitsinia to demand the results of the de facto presidential runoff annulled. Kvitsinia and his supporters argue that [...]

Growing tensions in Abkhazia as opposition refuses to accept narrow win for incumbent

By | September 9th, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: , , |

Raul Khajimba won by 47.4% to 46.2%, according to preliminary results. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Tensions are growing in Abkhazia after the runoff in the breakaway republic’s presidential elections, as the opposition refuses to accept the lead by incumbent de facto president Raul Khajimba.  There is a high likelihood that the result will ultimately be declared [...]

Breakaway Abkhazia election heads to second round as incumbent fails to pass 50% threshold

By | August 26th, 2019|Categories: In brief|Tags: |

(IPN.) TBILISI, DFWatch--There will be a runoff election for de facto president of breakaway Abkhazia on September 8, since none of the candidates received over 50% of votes in the first round on Sunday. Incumbent de facto president Raul Khajimba is in the lead, trailed by Oleg Arshba and Alhaz Kvitsinia, according to preliminary [...]

European far-right politicians praise Abkhazia election as free and democratic

By | August 26th, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: , , , |

Patrick Poppel (right), Stefan Keuter (second from right) and Gunnar Lindemann (center) at the concluding conference in Sokhumi. (RFE/RL.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Two politicians from the German far-right AfD were among the foreign observers who were present during Sunday’s election for de facto president of Abkhazia. The election was not recognized by Georgia. Among the dozens [...]

Kremlin linked incumbent likely to be re-elected in breakaway Abkhazia

By | August 25th, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: , , |

Raul Khajimba casting his vote in Sokhumi (RIA). TBILISI, DFWatch--The Georgian breakaway region Abkhazia is holding elections for de facto president on Sunday. Ten candidates are vying for the seat, but none of them stand much of a chance against the incumbent Raul Khajimba, a former KGB operative and close ally of the Kremlin. [...]

Main opposition candidate in Abkhazia stands down due to ill health, replacement vows to stay on same course

By | July 16th, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: , , |

Alhaz Kvitsinia. (Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch--One of the opposition parties in Abkhazia has officially nominated its chairman Alhaz Kvitsinia as a candidate for president of the breakaway republic. A local party official said this in a speech at a party congress of the Amtsakhar party, one of the largest opposition parties in the disputed region. [...]

Sokhumi claims opposition leader’s illness due to food intoxication, not deliberate poisoning

By | June 6th, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: , , |

Aslan Bzhania fell ill in April. TBILISI, DFWatch--Abkhazia’s breakaway authorities claim opposition leader Aslan Bzhania's sudden illness is due to ordinary food intoxication, not deliberate poisoning. Sokhumi thus rejects conclusions by a laboratory in Munich, which found earlier that samples from the leading opposition contender contained high levels of lead and cadmium. De facto [...]

Abkhazia opposition calls off protest after reaching compromise with de facto authorities

By | May 22nd, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: , |

(Sputnik-Abkhazia.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The opposition in breakaway Abkhazia ended their rally in front of parliament building in Sokhumi on Tuesday, after reaching a compromise with de facto authorities. The sides have agreed to postpone the presidential elections to August 26. The de facto parliament earlier decided to hold elections in July, while the opposition had [...]

Abkhazia opposition demands presidential elections postponed after leader’s suspected poisoning

By | May 21st, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: , |

(Sputnik-Abkhazia.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The opposition in Abkhazia rallied in front of the parliament building in Sokhumi Tuesday for the second day, vowing not to stop it until parliament postpones the presidential elections until fall due to the suspected poisoning of their leader. Overnight, opposition activists temporarily blocked the central highway at two locations north and [...]

Growing suspicion that Abkhazia’s main opposition candidate was poisoned after security guards also fall ill

By | April 24th, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: , , |

Aslan Bzhania. TBILISI, DFWatch--Suspicions grew Monday that a key opposition figure in Abkhazia has been poisoned, after two of his bodyguards were hospitalized in a serious condition, at least one of them with similar symptoms. Although officially, Aslan Bzhania, the main opponent of the incumbent de facto president, and his two guards are being [...]