The leader of Georgia’s separatist region of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhaniya, has resigned. It was written last night by Reuters and Russian news agencies, citing the office of the leader of the Moscow-backed region. The parliament, government and presidential administration offices in the Abkhazian capital Sukhumi were seized by demonstrators last week on Friday in protest against a law that would allow Russians to buy real estate. They demanded Bžanij’s resignation.
“For the sake of maintaining stability and constitutional order in the country… I am resigning from the post of president,” Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted Bzhani’s statement as saying. According to her, the regional leader resigned based on an agreement signed by representatives of the government and the opposition. Part of it is the departure of protesters from government buildings during today. If this point is not met, Bžanija will withdraw his resignation, writes RIA Novosti.
“The current vice president of Abkhazia, Badra Gunba, has been appointed acting head of state,” Russian news agency TASS reported. Another Russian agency, Interfax, wrote a little earlier that other officials, including Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab, would also end their posts. According to the authorities, the region is expecting early presidential elections.
Bžanija expressed his willingness to resign on Saturday if opposition supporters leave the occupied government buildings. But the protesters refused to leave the occupied government buildings.
The unrest erupted on Monday last week when Abkhazia’s parliament began debating a bill to ratify an agreement with Moscow that would allow Russian citizens and businesses to buy land and real estate in Abkhazia. The opposition describes the agreement as an attempt by Bžanij’s regime to enrich itself; after the occupation of the complex of government buildings in Sukhumi, opposition representatives came out with a demand for Bžanij’s resignation.
Protesters, meanwhile, said their protest was not directed against Abkhazia’s close ties with Russia and accused Bjaniya of “trying to use these relations for its own selfish interests and manipulating them to strengthen its regime”. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marija Zakharova said Russia expects the situation in Abkhazia to be resolved exclusively through peaceful political means.
Abkhazia is a region of approximately 245,000 people that remained largely under separatist control after the war ended in 1993. The rest of Abkhazia was lost to Georgia in the 2008 war with Russia, after which Moscow officially recognized the separatist region as an independent state, along with South Ossetia. Tbilisi considers these territories occupied, Russia has its military garrisons in both provinces.
Source: www.tyden.cz
