Final presidential debate held in Abkhazia ahead of snap election
Abkhaz presidential candidates’ debate
Televised debates between the presidential candidates were held in Abkhazia, marking the final stage of the campaign ahead of the February 15 vote.
All five contenders for the presidency participated in the three-hour debate.
The frontrunners in the race are widely seen as the pro-government candidate Badr Gunba, who enjoys strong backing from Moscow, and opposition leader Adgur Ardzinba.
However, two other candidates—former Abkhaz trade representative in Russia Oleg Bartsits and ex-head of the Control Chamber Robert Arshba—position themselves as a “third force” rather than mere outsiders in the race.
The same cannot be said for the fifth candidate, banker Adgur Khurkhumal, who is widely viewed as the underdog.
Yet, despite this, Khurkhumal left the strongest impression on viewers during the debate due to his unconventional approach. He spoke little but was eccentric, and his remarks quickly turned into viral memes on social media, including: “Russia recognized our independence, and now it has taken it away” and “We must close our borders entirely. We should be self-sufficient.”
Expectations were high for a showdown between Adgur Ardzinba and Badr Gunba during the televised debate. However, a full-fledged verbal duel never materialized, as the format allowed only one direct question from one candidate to another.
Even so, this was enough to spark a heated exchange between Ardzinba and Gunba, with Oleg Bartsits and Robert Arshba siding with Ardzinba. That said, Ardzinba himself was also reminded of the missteps he made during his time in government from 2015 to 2020.
As Gunba is effectively the successor to ousted ex-president Aslan Bzhania, many were eager to hear his stance on the controversial apartment law and the even more contentious Russian-Abkhaz investment agreement—both of which played a key role in Bzhania’s downfall.
Gunba admitted that he initially supported both the apartment law and the investment deal, calling it his “personal position, which may have been mistaken.” He added that if the people believe these measures should not be implemented, then he stands with them.
During the debate, Ardzinba and Bartsits jointly declared that the current presidential election is the dirtiest in Abkhazia’s history.
Adgur Ardzinba pointed out that a “crowd of Russian political strategists” had arrived in the republic to support the government-backed candidate, Gunba, and were engaged in smear campaigns against the other contenders. He argued that they should be “immediately expelled.”
Oleg Bartsits, in turn, highlighted the massive financial resources being poured into Gunba’s campaign. He contrasted this with the plight of two-year-old Lia Adleiba, who suffers from leukemia and urgently needs 26 million rubles for treatment.
“The fate of this child is being decided by our caring citizens, our civil society, volunteers, and benefactors. And I see a parallel—just as Lia’s future depends on people’s goodwill, so too will the fate of Abkhazia in this election be determined not by vast financial resources, administrative pressure, flashy campaign tours, or convoys of buses, but by the people of Abkhazia,” Bartsits said.
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Abkhaz presidential candidates’ debate
