Opposition stops protests in Georgia’s occupied Abkhazia, deal reached on ‘election’ date with de facto gov’t
Georgia’s occupied Abkhazia region is preparing for so-called presidential elections in August. Photo: Pirveliradio.ge.
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The opposition in Georgia’s western occupied Abkhazia region has stopped protests as an agreement has been reached with the de facto government regarding the date of so the-called presidential elections.
The parties agreed that the “elections” will be conducted on August 26, 2019, instead of the previously named date of July 21.
The opposition demanded the postponement of the “elections” to October, as their leader Aslan Bzhania was allegedly poisoned a little more than a month ago.
The opposition says that traces of heavy metals of aluminium and mercury were found in Bzhania’s blood, which could not have made their way there naturally.
Only Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru and Syria have recognized the two regions of Georgia Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) as independent republics after the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.
The rest of the international community says that the regions are occupied by Russia, urging the country to withdraw its forces from the Georgian territory.
The so-called parliament of Georgia’s occupied region of Abkhazia has passed a bill in its first reading which strips a group of Georgian citizens of their right to receive their inheritance in the region.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili says that a new political format should be created regarding the country’s conflict issues, as existing formats are ineffective to discuss and respond to the severe problem of the occupation.
The State Security Service of Georgia reports that a young Georgian man, Irakli Kvaratskhelia, has reportedly committed suicide in the Gali district, in Georgia's Russian-occupied region of Abkhazia. Kvaratskhelia, born in 1990, had been allegedly detained by de-facto authorities.
A new grant programme ‘Produce for a Better Future’ will soon be launched in Georgia within the peace initiative ‘A Step to a Better Future’ in order to encourage trade across the occupation lines.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry said today’s second round of so-called presidential elections in the Russian occupied region of Abkhazia is “illegal” and “illegitimate”. Opposition leader Alkhas Kvitsinia is running against incumbent “president” Raul Khajimba in the second round of elections.