The republican Central Election Commission announced Sergei Bagapsh's victory, Monday last. "An absurd and illegal decision," incumbent President Vladislav Ardzinba harshly commented.
Abkhazia's Supreme Court will have hearings tomorrow to consider complaints of Sergei Bagapsh and Raul Khajimba, his closest rival, who have highlighted outrageous election trespasses.
Sergei Bagapsh will have only his legal advisers to offer his point to the Supreme Court. His public supporters will be all the time on a Victory Square protest rally, say his election HQ activists.
Though Raul Khajimba's partisans are not intending whatever public action in Sukhumi, tomorrow, they have been staying for several days on the Philharmonic Society premises, and are determined to wait for a court verdict there. "The law must dominate everything," said Mr. Khajimba. His supporters stick to that principle, they said to Novosti on his HQ.
Sergei Bagapsh, once Abkhaz Prime Minister, now is Director General of the Chernomorenergo government electric company. Many experts see him as opposing the incumbent's clan.
After long procrastination, the Central Election Commission announced he had won the presidential race. It confirmed election returns for all constituencies but those in the Gali District, along the Abkhaz-Georgian frontier. Procedural violations in a number of local constituencies forced the commission to invalidate the election. Another poll has been appointed for October 17, the same hopefuls running.
Sergei Bagapsh scored 35,092 votes, and Raul Khajimba 30,120, reported the commission.
As soon as the poll finished, Mr. Khajimba-Abkhazia's Prime Minister till quite recently-demanded the election invalidated and another poll appointed for the entire republic. The opposition, on the contrary, insisted on the poll being aboveboard and valid, the controversial Gali District being the only exception.
Vladislav Ardzinba has been at the former Georgian autonomy's helm ever since Georgian-Abkhaz warfare broke out, in the early 1990s. He cannot run for a third presidential term, as the Abkhaz law has it.
The Abkhaz poll was certainly illegal, says the Georgian top. Nevertheless, Tbilisi will not intervene in the election developments in the breakaway republic, says Georgia's State Security Minister.
