In the Abkhazian Parliament, a session of the relevant economic committee took place, during which a controversial apartment law was considered. Specifically, it discussed the possibility of approving apartment construction only in the eastern part of the republic, not throughout its entire territory.
Given that a significant portion of Abkhazian society strongly opposes the adoption of this law in any form, all security forces were deployed to guard the parliament during the session, and the building was even fenced off.
Neither civil activists nor journalists were allowed into the parliament.
As a result, the committee recommended the draft law for consideration at the next session of the session, the date of which is not yet known.
It’s worth noting that Abkhazia’s president Aslan Bzhania has been unsuccessfully trying for two years to push through a law allowing Russians to build and buy apartments in Abkhazia. The adoption of this law would effectively lift the current ban on foreigners acquiring property in Abkhazia.
Failing to pass the law in its original form, Aslan Bzhania decided to incorporate it into a draft law aimed at enhancing the development of the eastern regions of the country. Now he proposes to allow apartment construction only in three districts of the republic considered to be depressed and in need of economic revival.
Among the public figures not allowed to participate in the session were veterans of the Georgian-Abkhaz war of 1992-93, Levan Mikaa, Akhra Bzhania, and Ilia Gunia. Security forces pushed Mikaa out of the parliament building, while they had heated exchanges with the other two. For Abkhazia, where veterans are highly respected, this incident is particularly striking.
Aslan Bzhania himself participated in the session and presented his arguments in support of the draft law. This, too, was an unprecedented event: no previous Abkhaz president had ever attended a committee session in parliament.
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