Abkhazian opposition challenges president to a debate
The opposition of Abkhazia has challenged the president to debate. Leaders of opposition political parties and public organizations addressed Aslan Bzhania and urged him to discuss the situation in Abkhazia live on the state TV channel with opposition leader Adgur Ardzinba.
According to the opposition, they were forced to write a letter due to the president by Aslan Bzhania’s “stubborn silence” on the issues that the opposition had previously put before the head of state, but received no response to.
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In particular, we are talking about the demand to dismiss the head of state television Irina Agrba “for total censorship, contrary to the democratic principles of our state”, as well as members of the Cabinet of Ministers, “who made a gross mistake by legalizing cryptocurrency mining, as a result of which the state and citizens suffered colossal damage”.
In addition, the opposition believes that the president is ignoring his constitutional obligation to issue an annual address to parliament on domestic and foreign policy issues.
“We consider this style of government management unacceptable. Citizens have the right to know where and where the guarantor of their constitutional rights is leading their policy. We have great doubts that you would be able to enlist the support of the majority of the citizens of the Republic of Abkhazia if during the election campaign you voiced theses about multi-level negotiations with Georgia and the sale of strategic objects of the country”, the letter says.
Opposition leaders are proposing that President Aslan Bzhania will soon appear on major domestic and foreign policy issues live on state television together with opposition leader Adgur Ardzinba.
Among the issues that, according to the opposition, are of interest to the citizens of the country – the pandemic, the situation in the energy sector, the resumption of the Sukhumi airport, the demarcation of the Russian-Abkhaz border, the fight against corruption and crime.
Aslan Bzhania – the path to power
Aslan Bzhania became president as a result of early elections held in March 2020. Prior to that, he headed the united opposition for six years and was considered the main candidate for the 2019 presidential elections.
However, six months before they were held, he suddenly fell seriously ill. The opposition claimed that he was poisoned, while the authorities appealed to the conclusion of the Moscow clinic, where Bzhania was hospitalized, that the cause of the disease was Guillain Barré’s syndrome.
Due to the protracted rehabilitation process, Aslan Bzhania was unable to participate in the elections, and the opposition was unable to nominate another candidate. That election was won by incumbent President Raul Khajimba, according to the controversial decision of the Central Election Commission.
The opposition challenged the election results in court, but while the trial was going on, a triple murder occurred on the Sukhum embankment. Among the suspects in participation in it were the presidential security officers.
As a result, the outraged relatives of those killed, led by the “hero of Donbass” Akhra Avidzba, stormed the presidential palace on January 9, and a few days later Raul Khadzhimba announced his early resignation.
In the early elections that followed the resignation, Minister of Economy Adgur Ardzinba became the main rival of Aslan Bzhania.
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