SUKHUM (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th September, 2019) Abkhaz opposition political party Amtsakhara announced on Tuesday its intention to protest the Central Election Commission's decision to acknowledge the outcome of the recent presidential election as valid.
On September 8, Abkhazia held the runoff of the election, won by incumbent President Raul Khadzhimba, who got 47.3 percent of votes. His main opponent, Alkhas Kvitsinia, the leader of Amtsakhara, got 46.1 percent. The opposition now demands a new election, insisting that according to the rules Khadzhimba has to get more than 50 percent of votes to be considered a winner.
"We declare that we will not allow Khadzhimba to obtain power through dirty methods and illegal ways. We will pursue, by all possible and acceptable methods, including protests involving thousands of people, the reversal of the Central Election Commission's decision and adoption of a legal constitutional decision by the highest legislative body," the party said in a statement posted on Facebook.
While being a part of Georgia, Abkhazia suffered from ethnic tensions between Abkhaz and Georgian populations, resulting in the 1992-1993 war. The conflict ended with Abkhazia being a de facto independent country. In August 2008, Abkhazia and Russia fend off an attack by the Georgian military leading to the official founding of self-governing Abkhaz nation. It still remains unrecognized by the majority of world's nations, with the exception of Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru and Syria.
