The assault on the presidential administration in Abkhazia. Opposition activists insert broken glass at their own expense
Residents of Abkhazia yesterday stormed the presidential administration building in the capital. Over a thousand activists came out to protest. Their demands were scattered: some protesters simply called for the resignation of the president, others rallied, demanding that the results of last year’s presidential election be invalid.
Those who supported the resignation of the incumbent head of Abkhazia were supported by the Aytair party, which is in opposition to the government.
Recall that R. Khadjimba, who has been leading the republic since 2014, won the second round of elections by a slight margin.
So what happened yesterday afternoon and evening?
At about thirteen o'clock on January 9 (Moscow time), protesters marched on to storm the presidential administration building. The assault was successful; people knocked out doors, knocked out glass. Dozens of people broke into the building. However, the success of the “attackers” ended there: the presidential guards blocked the activists' next path.
It is curious that the protesters behaved, so to speak, relatively peacefully. A. Avidzba, the organizer of the rally, even noted that they themselves would "chip in" to insert new glasses.
On the evening of the same day, parliament approved an appeal to the president. Parliamentarians called on Raul Khajimba to resign. However, the parliament did not achieve the desired result: Mr. Khadjimba considered it necessary to declare that he would continue to fulfill the duties of the head of state. Moreover, he said that if necessary, emergency mode will be introduced.
The Khajimba administration considered the actions of the activists an attempted coup d'etat. The president hastened to convene a meeting of the Security Council of the republic and, as a result, issued a statement in which he asked the people to "remain calm."
What became the main reasons for such a large-scale political crisis in the republic?
Firstly, there is an open confrontation between the branches of government.
Five deputies of the parliament held "summer" negotiations with Khajimba last night, where they tried to discuss measures to overcome the crisis. Parliamentarians handed over to the president the demands of protesters. Only one thing is known about the result: Khajimba promised to think about how to defuse the current crisis situation.
Secondly, on January XNUMX, the cassation board of the Abkhaz Supreme Court examined the lawsuit of A. Kvitsinia, a former participant in the very presidential elections and an oppositionist. In the second round of elections, the mentioned Kvitsinia lost to Mr. Khadjimba, however, the gap was less than two percentage points. According to Kvitsiniya, according to the law, the candidate Khajimba is not entitled to be considered elected, because as a result he received fewer votes than he got, Kvitsiniya, and plus votes in the line “against all”.
The law determines the winner in the second round of the candidate who received more votes in favor than there were votes against. True, the law does not specify whether votes “against all” are votes that are cast against the winner. The court stalled: the cassation panel granted the petition of the plaintiff's lawyer to challenge the judge whose term of office had expired. And it is not known now when the court will meet again.
Thirdly, another probable reason for the exacerbation of the crisis is called: the protests are linked to the shootout in the Abkhaz capital on November 22 last year. Some masked men fired at the veranda of the San Remo restaurant. Among the dead - two "authorities". A. Avidzba says one of the three arrested suspects is a presidential guard.
What's next?
Khajimba has already transferred the power structures of the republic to an enhanced regime.
Russian diplomats monitor the situation in the republic and urge Russian citizens to avoid protest places.
- russian.rt.com (video frames)
Information