In the presidential elections, in which 73 percent of 131,000 registered voters participated, Bagapsh won outright in the first round by garnering 61.16 percent of the vote, marking the beginning of his second five-year term in office. Bagapsh’s biggest rival, former Vice President Raul Khajimba, who is allegedly supported by Moscow, won 15.4 percent, Abkhaz state-owned Sea Shipping Company Director Zaur Ardzinba won 10.8 percent, Economic Development Party Chairman Beslan Butba took 8 percent and academic Vitaliy Bganba got 1.5 percent of the vote.The surface area of Abkhazia, located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, is 8,600 square kilometers with a population of around 250,000. Its population before the Georgian-Abkhaz war (1992-93) was 550,000. Russian, Georgian and Abkhaz are spoken in Abkhazia, while the currency is the Russian ruble. The majority of the population is Christian.
In the Soviet Union era, Abkhazia was an autonomous republic of Georgia on the Black Sea but declared de facto independence from Georgia on July 23, 1992, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. After declaring independence, Georgian forces entered Sukhumi, the capital city of Abkhazia, on Aug. 14, 1992; there they met resistance from Abkhaz forces. The resulting war lasted for over a year and ended after the Georgian forces left Abkhazia on Sept. 30, 1993. About 7,000 people died from both sides, and 250,000 Georgians in Abkhazia became refugees in the war, which brought major social and economic disaster to the countries.
The war in South Ossetia that took place between Aug. 8 and 12, 2008 and the Russian Federation’s recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia’s independence in the aftermath of the war eliminated the possibility of Georgia and Abkhazia reuniting.
Winning the Dec. 12, 2009 presidential elections is Bagapsh’s second election victory. In 2004, the then-Abkhazian president, Vladislav Ardzinba, upset the Abkhazia opposition, which was gathering around Bagapsh. The Abkhazia opposition began to intensify pressure on the government before and after the presidential elections and organized public meetings and demonstrations. It seized media and government buildings and left President Ardzinba, who had been ruling since the Georgia-Abkhazia war, unable to remain in power.
In the presidential elections held under these circumstances on Oct. 3, 2004, Khajimba, who was backed by Ardzinba, Russia and the Abkhaz Armenian community, lost and Bagapsh, who was supported by the Abkhaz people, Abkhaz Georgians and Abkhaz bureaucracy, intellectuals and media won.
As expected, Bagapsh also won the Dec. 12 elections. Former Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab became vice president. In the first elections held after Russia recognized Abkhazia’s independence, the Russian Duma sent seven members to Abkhazia to monitor the elections. It is obvious that Abkhazia’s presidential elections are important in shaping the future of Georgia, Russia, Turkey and the Caucasus, and it is for this reason that Abkhazia’s stability in the coming period is important for shaping the future of the southwest Caucasus.
