21.12.2004 - Source: Council of Europe - Parliamentary Assembly

Summary of the events surrounding the October 2004 presidential election ("Honouring of obligations and commitments by Georgia [Doc. 10383]") [#28272],  [ID 5494]

"13. Confusion reigned in the wake of the October 2004 presidential election election in the second break-away region of Georgia. The elections – unrecognised by Georgia and most of the international community with the exception of the Russian Federation – ought to have decided on a successor to the outgoing de facto president Vladislav Ardzinba. The Russian government and the Kremlin controlled media which is widely followed in Abkhazia came out strongly in favour of the current de facto Prime Minister Raul Khadzimba who run against one of his predecessors Sergey Bagapsh. The vote was surrounded by controversy with allegations of widespread irregularities.

14. It took over a week for a divided Abkhaz electoral commission to declare opposition candidate Sergey Bagapsh as the winner. The Abkhaz Supreme Court subsequently ruled that Mr Bagapsh had won the poll. But hours later – and after supporters of Mr Bagapsh's main rival had rampaged through the court building – the court reversed its decision, declaring the election invalid. President Ardzinba ordered a new poll. Mr Bagapsh and his supporters refuse to accept that and insist that he will be inaugurated as president on 6 December. Incumbent de facto Abkhaz President Vladislav Ardzinba maintains that he is not going to step down and will remain the president after December 6. In another worrying development, Abkhaz de facto Defense Minister Vyacheslav Eshba said in an interview with Russian newspaper Vremia Novostei on November 30, that Abkhazia intended to double its defence spending.

15. Recently, both sides in this political conflict agreed on resolving the crisis with new elections in which Mr Khadzimba agreed to run as a candidate for vice-presidency alongside Mr Bagapsh. This followed strong Duma pressures which included an economic embargo."

Document(s): Open document

07.11.2004 - Source: EurasiaNet

Abkhazia: Government candidate and former Prime Minister, Khadjimba, officially declared the loser of the Abkhaz presidential elections by Central Election Commission; he refuses to concede defeat ("Failure of Abkhaz mediation talks deepens Moscow’s quandary") [#26836],  [ID 5497]

"The two main contenders for the presidency in Georgia’s breakaway republic of Abkhazia recently went to Moscow for emergency talks aimed at settling their postelection dispute. The consultations ended inconclusively, with both men looking more than ever entrenched in their positions. As prospects for a solution to the Abkhaz political stalemate look dimmer, the apparent failure of Moscow’s mediation efforts raises many questions.
[...]
Abkhazia’s Central Election Commission has officially pronounced Khadjimba the loser of the 3 October election.

However, upon his return from Moscow November 3, the former prime minister made it clear he would not concede defeat. He also mocked Bagapsh’s plans to go ahead with his inauguration in early December.
[...]
Khajimba was referring to a demand by outgoing President Vladislav Ardzinba that a new national election be held within weeks.

Ardzinba’s decision, which is based on Khajimba’s claims of election fraud, has raised hackles among Bagapsh’s supporters.

The opposition maintains the presidential decree contradicts the country’s election laws. It also accuses the presidential camp of recently forcing the Supreme Court to reverse a ruling that had confirmed Bagapsh as the winner of the polls and to agree to a re-vote."

Document(s): Open document

03.11.2004 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Abkhazia: Khajimba’s supporters took over the courthouse, physically assaulted the judges who announced that Bagapsh was indeed the winner of presidential elections, and forced them to sign and announce a new decision ("Abkhazia Still Leaderless") [#26774],  [ID 5498]

Post-election dispute between opposition candidate Sergei Bagapsh, who is claiming victory in the October 3 vote, and his pro-government rival Raul Khajimba, who wants a rerun of the election continues

"Moscow has stepped directly into Abkhazia’s chaotic presidential contest after the republic’s supreme court issued two contradictory rulings, first in favour of one candidate and then – buckling under pressure – for the other.

Opposition candidate Sergei Bagapsh, who is claiming victory in the October 3 vote, and his pro-government rival Raul Khajimba, who wants a rerun of the election, returned from Moscow on November 3 after what were widely reported to be meetings with Russian officials attempting to mediate an end to the crisis.

Neither man would give any details of the visit.

This latest and most explosive round in Abkhazia’s post-election troubles, a full month after the vote took place, began after the republic’s supreme court attempted to rule in the bitter dispute between the two candidates.

The supreme court had been deliberating for 10 days on a demand by Khajimba to declare the official election results illegal. He claims that Bagapsh’s apparent victory was due to fraud.

On October 28, the court ruled that Bagapsh was indeed the winner – but only hours later it changed its stance, announcing that the results were invalid and new elections would be necessary.
But a haggard-looking Georgy Akaba, who heads the supreme court, appeared at a hurriedly-called press conference early the following day to announce that the second decision had only been taken under direct threats from Khajimba supporters, and was therefore not valid.

“The only legal decision is the one announced at the start of Thursday [October 28],” he said. “In accordance with this, the supreme court made no change to the central electoral committee’s decision of October 11, in which the winner of the presidential elections was announced as Sergei Bagapsh.”

The international community has not recognised the election in Abkhazia, whose claim to independence from Georgia is not accepted, but it has been closely following developments there."

Document(s): Open document

01.11.2004 - Source: EurasiaNet

Abkhazia: supreme court issued a decision that annulled the October 3 results and called for a new election to be held; the decision was made under strong pressure from Khajimba supporters, who threatened the judge and the state prosecutor ("Latest developments in Abkhazia hint at Russian intervention") [#26765],  [ID 5499]

Document(s): Open document

21.10.2004 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Abkhazia: The Supreme Court's still has not reached a verdict on whether to announce a rerun of the presidential election or declare opposition candidate Sergei Bagapsh victorious ("Abkhaz Deadlock Continues") [#26584],  [ID 5500]

Document(s): Open document

06.10.2004 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Abkhazia: electoral commission backed the plan for new poll to be conducted on October 17 in Gali, where several irregularities were noted in original ballot ("Abkhazia Election Cliff-hanger") [#26173],  [ID 5501]

Document(s): Open document

04.10.2004 - Source: Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

Abkhazia: Elections disqualified as illegitimate and unacceptable as a large part of the population was displaced outside Abkhazia and thus excluded from voting ("OSCE Chairman concerned at holding of Abkhaz “presidential election”") [#26032],  [ID 5502]

Document(s): Open document

03.10.2004 - Source: BBC News

Abkhazia: more than 60% of 120,000 people registered for the vote allegedly took part in first contested presidential election ("Abkhazia holds first 'real' poll") [#26037],  [ID 5503]

Document(s): Open document