This Saturday in Abjasia, Caucaso Country, early presidential elections are held.
The decision to carry out new elections was taken after, at the end of November 2024, the then president of the country, Aslán Bzhania, and his prime minister, Alexánder Ankvab, agreed to resign under an agreement between the government and the opposition as result of the riots produced in the country.
Among the five candidates are two who played an important role in the political process that led to the celebration of early elections.
The first, Bandra Gunba, is the current acting president, who also also served as vice president of the country; While the second is Adgur Ardzinba, who already participated in the presidential elections of 2020, when he lost against Aslán Bzhania, was Minister of Economy and represents the opposition.
According to the projections of the Social Marketing Institute published on Thursday, 54 % of respondents would vote for Gunba, while 28 % would support Ardzinba.
9 % of voters would support Robert Arshba, former head of the Supreme Chamber of Abjasia Control; 4 % to Oleg Bartsits, former representative of the country’s commercial office in Russia; and only 2 % would support Adgur Jurjumal, president of the Black Sea Development Bank.
Victory in the first round requires more than 50 % of the number of votes. In the event that no candidate obtains sufficient support to win, a second round will be held, with the two candidates who have obtained the largest number of votes.
The riots began in mid -November last year when Parliament was preparing to ratify the pact signed the previous month by Russia and Abjasia, which among other things allows Russian companies to make investments in the country.
The opposition argued that the new agreement legalizes the sale of real estate and damages the economic sovereignty of Abjasia, so it opposed its ratification and encouraged citizens to go to the streets to protest.
Source: Current RT
