Presidential elections in Abkhazia – round two

Abkhazia goes to the polls today on September 8 to elect its next president, with Abkhaz opposition leader Alkhas Kvitsinia facing off against incumbent president Raul Khajimba, who made it into the second round of elections.

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Opposition in Abkhazia united right before the second round of the presidential election, which is scheduled for September 8. The team of former president and very influential politician Alexander Ankvab announced on September 5 that he would support opposition candidate Alkhas Kvitsinia.

If Kvitsinia wins, Ankvab will become Prime Minister – this was the condition on which the two opposition groups united.

Thus, the chances of the opposition to win the election have increased significantly.

The head of state will be elected along with a vice-president.

Aslan Bartsits is running along with incumbent Raul Khajimba – he is the current head of the Presidential Administration Expert Department.

Alkhas Kvitsinia is running with Dmitri Dbar, an MP.

Polls opened at 08:00 in the morning in 152 voting districts, in addition to one in Moscow and Cherkessk [ed. A town in Karachay-Cherkessia, a republic of the Russian Federation, where about 4,000 Abazin live – an ethnic group related to Abkhaz who have the right to Abkhaz citizenship – JAMnews]

Polling stations will close at 20:00.

There are 126,950 eligible voters.

The first round of the presidential elections took place two weeks ago on August 25, in which nine candidates ran. None of them succeeded in receiving 50 per cent of the vote, and thus a second round of elections was scheduled.

The victor of this round of elections will be the candidate who receives the most votes.

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