Abkhazia protests against a controversial investment deal with Russia. LIVE

Video by Nuzhnaya Gazeta

Opposition deputy Kan Kvarchia provided an update on the ongoing negotiations with the still-president Aslan Bzhania. The main topic of discussion is who will become the acting president. There are currently three options, according to Kvarchia:

1. The authorities propose appointing the current vice president, Badra Gumba, as acting president, and appointing a representative from the united opposition as the head of the cabinet.

2. The opposition suggests appointing the speaker of parliament, Lasha Ashuba, as acting president.

3. The third option is to find an outside candidate, a compromise figure, who would combine the roles of acting president and prime minister.

The speaker of parliament, Lasha Ashuba, has returned after meeting with Aslan Bzhania, and negotiations are currently underway with representatives of the Coordination Council to resolve the political crisis created by the united opposition and public organizations. The main topic of discussion is expected to be who will assume the role of acting president following Bzhania’s resignation.

Several thousand people continue to stand near the complex of government buildings, which is fully controlled by the protesters. Everyone is waiting for Aslan Bzhania’s official resignation.

Update from the political group AIAŠARA: “A group of deputies, led by the speaker, is currently at the State Security Service, where the president is also located, and they are negotiating with him about his resignation. As we know, this is the third delegation attempting to explain the gravity of the situation to the president. The demand for his resignation is the demand of the people, who will not allow the country to be destroyed and their children deprived of a future in Abkhazia. A large number of security forces have gathered at the State Security Service building. Bžania refuses to leave office, and the previous delegations sent to negotiate with him returned empty-handed.

All the questions the people are asking the president are internal matters; they have nothing to do with our friendly country, Russia. It’s important to understand that there are issues where we may be open to compromise, but there are others where we cannot concede, as these are issues crucial for the future of our country—issues for which many people have given their lives. We are waiting to see what the current delegation brings back.”

A representative of AIAŠARA reports from the presidential administration building, which was seized by thousands of protesters several hours ago.

The Telegram channel Abkhazia Centre raises interesting questions: “Where are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Duma, the Federation Council, Maria Zakharova, Margarita Simonyan, and other figures who are usually outraged by any free thought or disobedience? Yet, in the allied Abkhazia, where Russian troops are stationed, where Russian border guards are on duty, where Russia is building an airport, the pro-Russian agreement was not ratified, and the president sent from Moscow was overthrown. Unprecedented disobedience. But Moscow remains silent. Could they be planning something?”

Protesters who occupied the presidential administration building removed the plaque with Aslan Bzhaniya’s name from his office door and threw it in the trash.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement: “Russia is closely monitoring the developments in our neighboring and friendly country, Abkhazia, where internal political contradictions have once again escalated. Unfortunately, the opposition forces have not considered it possible to resolve their differences with the legitimate government through civilized, respectful dialogue, and have stepped outside the legal framework, provoking the escalation of the conflict. As a result, a crisis situation has emerged in the republic, and, regardless of its outcome, this hampers Abkhazia’s development. Specifically, it is clear that scenarios like the current one do not contribute to attracting foreign investments, which are a significant factor in the socio-economic progress of the republic.

While Russia does not interfere in Abkhazia’s internal processes, we hope that the situation will be resolved solely through peaceful political means. At the same time, it is essential that the laws of Abkhazia are strictly observed, including those concerning the maintenance of public order.

Given the current circumstances, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been forced to recommend that Russian citizens refrain from traveling to Abkhazia, including for tourism. For those Russians temporarily staying in the country, it is important to exercise increased caution, avoid areas of unrest, and, if possible, leave the country.”

One of the opposition leaders, Adgur Ardzaiba, provided an update on the situation: “We are receiving information that the current president is trying to mislead our strategic partner, Russia, by claiming that a coup has been carried out in Abkhazia by pro-Turkish, pro-Western forces. Aslan Bzhaniya is now sitting and calling Moscow with this agenda. This is an absolute lie.

Last night, we made one final attempt. We met with the deputies and asked them to remove the agreement from the agenda to calm the people down. Our proposal was ignored. Today, when we gathered for a parliamentary session, we again asked the deputies to calm the public and remove this issue from the agenda.

The main point of our proposals was this: presidential elections were supposed to take place in a few months. No one here wanted this kind of situation. We suggested that the president include the issue of the agreement in his election program. If the people support it, so be it. But he ignored that proposal.

Over the past two and a half years, Aslan Bzhaniya has refused any dialogue. The climax was his statement to the security forces that there is nothing to discuss with us and that they should consider us all extremists. Despite this, we tried to persuade him that we didn’t want an extreme situation. We said, let’s approach the elections calmly.

Then you know what happened. The deputies failed to gather and refused to withdraw the ratification of the agreement as we asked. The president could not respond to the justified demands of the people and ignored them. A group of deputies was formed and sent to the president. The only question is: the president’s resignation and early presidential elections.

At the moment, we are waiting for an answer. We asked Bzhaniya to step down to prevent the situation from worsening and to avoid clashes. We hope that those who went for negotiations will return with a positive result.”

Protesters have occupied the offices of the president’s administration and refuse to leave until he resigns.

Opposition representatives went to the president with an ultimatum demanding his resignation. It seems that Aslan Bzhania’s administration does not fully grasp the new reality. Just half an hour ago, they released a statement about withdrawing the agreement on Russian investments, a decision that now appears belated in the face of the demand for the president’s resignation.

The main hall of the presidential administration has been occupied by protesters. They intend to wait for Bzhaniya’s resignation.

The situation has sharply escalated again, with a thousands-strong crowd breaking down doors and windows of the parliament building and entering the premises.

The press service of the President of Abkhazia reports: “Currently, the presidential administration is preparing a document to withdraw the draft law ‘On the Ratification of the Agreement between the Government of Abkhazia and the Government of the Russian Federation on the Implementation of Investment Projects by Russian Legal Entities in the Territory of the Republic of Abkhazia’ from Parliament. This decision has been made in order to stabilize the situation in the republic.”

The situation outside the Abkhazian parliament remains calm. Inside the presidential administration building, talks between government and opposition representatives are underway. Members of parliament have entered the building, though it is unclear who is part of each group. President Aslan Bzhania is reportedly not present.

Experts suggest the discussions will likely address not only the rejection of the agreement’s ratification but also the possibility of the president’s early resignation. Foreign Minister Sergey Shamba and Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab are expected to participate in the negotiations.

Protesters brought in trucks and tore down the fence around the government building complex. The security forces are offering little resistance.

The situation has escalated; the crowd is trying to break into the government buildings, and while security forces are resisting, their response is not very forceful.

The authorities clearly anticipated a large protest, as they had been preparing for it since the night before. The city center was blocked off, with hundreds of military vehicles and trucks surrounding the area around government buildings, and thousands of law enforcement officers were concentrated there. Of the 35 parliament members, 21 attended the morning session. The others, who were government supporters, gave various reasons for their absence—some claimed they were hospitalized, while others said they had to urgently leave for personal matters.

In the past week, voters in different regions of Abkhazia held meetings with their deputies to convince them not to ratify the agreement. Many deputies promised they would not vote in favor. On October 12, following one of these meetings, five opposition members were detained on charges of hooliganism. In response, the opposition staged a protest, leading to the release of the detainees.