Jul 15, 2004

Abkhazia: Abkhazia to Elect President in October


Presidential elections in the self- proclaimed republic of Abkhazia will take place on October 3, 2004
Presidential elections in the self- proclaimed republic of Abkhazia will take place on October 3, 2004, the Abkhaz parliament announced Wednesday.

Under the republic's rules for candidacy, candidates must be an ethnic Abkhaz citizen who is able to speak the Abkhaz language, over 35 and under 65 years old, eligible to vote, and who has resided in the republic for at least five years prior to the elections.

The term is for five years.

Incumbent Abkhaz President Vladislav Ardzinba cannot run for the post again.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia, officially provinces within Georgia, declared independence in the 1990s. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has urged Abkhazia and South Ossetia to work towards reunification within one state, but Sukhumi and Tskhinvali rejected the proposal. Nevertheless, after his recent victory over the separatist regime in the autonomous republic of Ajaria within Georgia, Saakashvili has stepped up efforts for reunification.

Source: Interfax