De facto Abkhaz President appoints region’s new Prime Minister
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Beslan Butba has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Georgia’s breakaway region Abkhazia.
Abkhaz news agency Apsnypress stated the recently elected de facto President of Abkhazia Raul Khajimba named Butba as the region’s new Prime Minister today, September 29.
Butba is the founder and leader of Party of the Economic Development of Abkhazia. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the December 2009 presidential election.
The 54-year-old is also a successful businessman and owned Abkhazia's only private television station Abaza TV.
In his new role Butba will have to select new members of the cabinet and propose candidates for approval to the new Abkhaz leader.
Following the 2014 Abkhazian political crisis and the resignation of President Alexander Ankvab, Butba was appointed as acting Vice Premier on June 13. Accordingly, Butba's membership of Parliament was terminated on June 18.
Ankvab stepped down following massive street protests - a day after the local de-facto Parliament voted to hold early presidential elections in August.
Meanwhile, today Khajimba also appointed Zurab Margania as the new chief of the state security service of the breakaway region. Margania previously served as the deputy chief of the security service in charge of border guards.
A ceremony was held yesterday, September 25, that declared Raul Khajimba as the region’s president for the next five years.
"We are ready to talk to anyone who holds the position of de-facto leader of Abkhazia,” said Georgian Dream Member of Parliament and Council of Europe representative Tinatin Khidasheli, despite Georgia not recognising last weekend's election.
The United States (US) says it does not recognise the legitimacy of the recent elections in Georgia’s breakaway region Abkhazia, held on August 24.
Holding presidential elections on Georgia’s territory represents harsh neglect of international law and an attempt to legitimize the existing occupation, says the Georgian President.
The European Union (EU) has assessed the "presidential elections” in Georgia’s breakaway region Abkhazia as non-constitutional and illegal.
Georgian authorities are condemning the "illegal act” of the Abkhazia Presidential Elections and are calling on the international community to do the same.
Demonstrators demanding the annulment of the results of the de facto presidential elections in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region and the resignation of the current, de facto President Raul Khajimba have broken into the so-called presidential administration building in Sokhumi earlier today.