Abkhaz opposition invites president to resign
Abkhaz opposition demands resignation of the president
At a congress on March 11 of the largest opposition organization Aruaa, which unites veterans of the Georgian-Abkhaz war, delegates came to the conclusion that President of Abkhazia Aslan Bzhania had ‘failed his job and should resign.’
According to Aruaa, during the year of the presidency of Aslan Bzhania (in April it will be one year since Bzhania was elected president of Abkhazia) the situation has significantly worsened in almost all spheres. In particular:
- The burden on taxpayers has increased in terms of the maintenance of the bureaucratic apparatus
- Fundamental anti-corruption laws have not been adopted (Article 20 of the UN Convention)
- High-profile criminal cases have not been disclosed, including the poisoning of Aslan Bzhania himself, which occurred in April 2019
- The socio-economic situation of the population has worsened, including due to delays in pension payments
- Reform of the labor market has not yet begun, jobs are still being hired by phone, not by competition
- There is no freedom of speech on state television, and the authorities are trying to prosecute some of the opposition leaders from among the former officials
- The government’s ill-considered decision to legalize mining, which led to an energy crisis in the country
The president’s biggest blunder was the idea of ”multilevel” negotiations with Georgia
This idea is enshrined in the foreign policy concept, which was presented by the president in January 2021 and caused great controversy and condemnation of the opposition.
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“For one year of work, there are too many miscalculations that undermine the foundations. We do not call for a referendum and revolutions, but we suggest that the president, in the name of the interests of the state and the people, submit his voluntary resignation. Such a decision, without any rallies and revolutions, will allow elections to be calmly held and people who are not involved in the violent change of power will come to rule the state,” the resolution of the congress says.
Aruaa also appealed to the MPs of parliament with a proposal to urgently pass a law on the impeachment of the president, “in order to exclude anti-constitutional methods of changing power.”
Meanwhile, in the morning, the authorities pulled in all law enforcement agencies to guard the buildings of the government, the presidential administration and the adjacent quarters.
Probably, the government assumed that the congress would result in a rally at the presidential palace and further into its seizure, as has happened in Abkhazia more than once so far. Including the current president Aslan Bzhania came to power after the seizure of the presidential palace and the forced early resignation of then President Raul Khajimba.
However, the fears were unfounded, at least for now.
“Aslan Georgievich – we are not you, we are not coups, we are statesmen, and there is no need to fear a coup,” said opposition leader Adgur Ardzinba, who spoke at the congress.
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