Abkhaz Opposition Convenes 'Public Meeting' In Sukhum Next Week

Abkhazia's opposition calls on its supporters to gather for a "public meeting" in the capital of the breakaway country, Sukhum, on Tuesday, during a Supreme Court hearing on a candidate's lawsuit to cancel the presidential election results, the Abkhaz opposition party Amtsakhara said Saturday

SUKHUM (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th September, 2019) Abkhazia's opposition calls on its supporters to gather for a "public meeting" in the capital of the breakaway country, Sukhum, on Tuesday, during a Supreme Court hearing on a candidate's lawsuit to cancel the presidential election results, the Abkhaz opposition party Amtsakhara said Saturday.

On September 8, Abkhazia held the runoff of the election, won by incumbent President Raul Khadzhimba, who got 47.3 percent of votes. His main opponent, Alkhas Kvitsinia, the leader of Amtsakhara, who filed the lawsuit, got 46.1 percent. The opposition now demands a new election, insisting that according to the rules, Khadzhimba has to get more than 50 percent of votes to be considered a winner.

"We ask everyone who disagrees with the results of the second round of voting announced by the Central Election Committee to come to the public meeting.

The meeting will be held in Sukhum on September 17, 2019 at 11.00 [07:00 GMT]. The venue for the meeting will be announced later," representative of the opposition party wrote on Facebook.

The Abkhaz Supreme Court will commence the proceedings on Kvitsinia's lawsuit on Tuesday.

While being a part of Georgia, Abkhazia suffered from ethnic tensions between Abkhaz and Georgian populations, resulting in the 1992-1993 war. The conflict ended with Abkhazia being a de facto independent country. In August 2008, Abkhazia and Russia fend off an attack by the Georgian military leading to the official founding of self-governing Abkhaz nation. It still remains unrecognized by the majority of world's nations, with the exception of Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru and Syria.