In Abkhazia, parliament bans the president from signing international treaties independently
The Abkhazian parliament has restricted the president’s and government’s powers in signing international treaties. Now, the president and government must submit any international and interdepartmental agreements to parliament for review before signing.
The amendments to the “On international treaties” law were unanimously approved, with only the president’s representative, Batal Aiba, dissenting.
The changes were driven by controversial Russian-Abkhaz agreements that were signed without public or parliamentary knowledge.
A notable instance involved transferring the famous state dacha in Pitsunda to Russian Federal protective service ownership, causing a significant political crisis. Although the parliament ratified the agreement on December 27, 2023, with a provision preventing the Federal Protective Service from transferring the dacha to third parties, this clause was rejected by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, leading to criticism from both the opposition and civil society.
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Another scandal arose from the government’s intent to deploy Russian national guard units (Rosgvardia) in Abkhazia for “maintaining public order and ensuring public safety.” The leaked draft of this agreement sparked widespread public outrage, compelling the minister of internal affairs, Robert Kiut, to declare that under no circumstances would he sign it.
The parliament, which ultimately must ratify all international agreements, decided to safeguard itself by ensuring the opportunity to preview the document in advance and, if necessary, prevent its signing.
According to opposition deputy Garri Kokaya, this is a historic event as it demonstrates the deputies’ distrust of the president:
“Seeing the mistakes the president made by clandestinely signing the agreement on the state dacha in Pitsunda, the deputies made the only correct decision. And now, with the constitutional powers of the head of state limited, he will not be able to independently sign any documents.”
Garri Kokaya particularly emphasizes that it was the parliament that made this decision, despite the fact that the majority of deputies are supporters of the president.
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