SUKHUM (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd March, 2020) A rerun of the presidential election in Abkhazia is scheduled to be held on Sunday notwithstanding the measures undertaken in the country to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Polling stations in 35 electoral districts are due to open at 8 a.m. [04:00 GMT] and close at 8 p.m. [20:00 GMT]. The minimum turnout threshold is 50 percent.
The Abkhazian government has earlier announced that all polling stations will be supplied with medical masks and hand sanitizers as part of measures against the spread of the coronavirus. To ensure orderly voting, the government has mobilized more than 1,000 law enforcement officers.
The rerun is held amid tightened security measures in the light of the coronavirus pandemic: Abkhazia has suspended all international arrivals except from countries with which it has a visa-free regime and mandated all citizens returning from abroad to self-isolate for 14 days.
In January, a court in Abkhazia ruled the results of the latest presidential election in September that had brought President Raul Khajimba to a second presidential term illegal and subsequently ordered the Central Election Commission to call a rerun.
The registered candidates now are opposition leader Aslan Bzhania, former Interior Minister Leonid Dzapshba, and Minister of Economy Adgur Ardzinba. To win the election, a candidate has to deem more than 50 percent of the vote.
