Local elections were held in Abkhazia on Saturday, with a total of 284 candidates competing for 179 parliamentary seats. While all the results have not yet been announced, it appears as if candidates linked to President Badra Gunba — whose administration was officially banned from campaigning — have won a majority of seats in an election marred by low turnout and allegations of illegal meddling.
Some sources have claimed that turnout was only around 30% of all the roughly 130,000 registered voters, one of the lowest in Abkhazia’s electoral history.
Pro-government media outlets have claimed that supporters of Gunba, many of whom are unaffiliated with any political party (as Gunba is), will secure a majority of seats, at around 76%. This figure has been disputed by those in the opposition, with some saying the projected results are ‘political fiction’.
Prominent opposition figure Adgur Ardzinba, who unsuccessfully ran for president earlier this year, said he would congratulate those who won, but added that the elections had their share of ‘dirty tricks’.
At the centre of the controversy and allegations of meddling is Team Abkhazia, a political organisation headed by Giorgi Gabunia, winner of the Team Abkhazia competition, which was initiated by Sergei Kiriyenko, the first deputy chief of the Russian presidential administration and the Kremlin’s pointperson in Abkhazia.
Team Abkhazia has been accused by the opposition of indirectly funnelling support from Gunba — and Russia — to pro-government candidates, despite the official ban on the sitting government being involved in local elections.
Just days ahead of the election, Russian political strategists who were reportedly working for Team Abkhazia without the proper registration and accreditation were confronted by opposition figures at their office, which then escalated into a physical altercation. The individuals were then deported from Abkhazia.
Ivan Reva, one of the Russian ‘journalists’ working for Team Abkhazia involved in the confrontation, admitted that he and his associates had hired people to tear down posters of candidates not affiliated with Team Abkhazia.
Despite the tensions ahead of election day, the vote was reportedly carried out without a hitch. No complaints were received during the elections to the city and district election commissions.
Moreover, despite the work of Russian political strategists, candidates supported by the opposition won in many districts. In some cases, opposition forces courted unaffiliated candidates behind closed doors so that they could avoid attacks from Team Abkhazia and other pro-government forces.
The election was observed by representatives from Serbia, Colombia, Tanzania, and Italy, among other countries.
For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.
OC Media
