Abkhaziaʼs self-proclaimed president resigned amid protests

The "president" of the self-proclaimed republic of Abkhazia Aslan Bzhania has resigned amid protests over an investment agreement with Russia.

This was reported by the press service of the "president" of Abkhazia.

Bzhaniya explained that he was resigning in order to "preserve stability and constitutional order" in the country.

Also, the authorities and the opposition of the self-proclaimed republic signed a document according to which the protesters must leave the territory of the complex of government buildings on November 19 — otherwise, Bzhania will withdraw her resignation and return to the post of "president".

In addition to Bzhaniya, the "prime minister" Oleksandr Ankvab is also resigning.

The acting head of the self-proclaimed republic will be "vice president" Badra Gunba, although the opposition was against his candidacy earlier. The current "ministers" will perform their duties until the newly elected "president" of Abkhazia takes office.

Protests against the agreement with Russia continue in Abkhazia. It will allow Russian companies to invest in construction projects in the region, but activists consider this a "surrender of the interests" of Abkhazia. The document was supposed to be considered on November 15, but protesters disrupted the parliament session and broke into the building. The opposition demanded the resignation of Bzhania.

Abkhaz "presidents" twice resigned early due to opposition protests. Oleksandr Ankvab resigned from his post on June 1, 2014, when protests were sparked by the issuance of Abkhazian passports to residents of Georgian nationality in the eastern regions of Abkhazia.

On January 12, 2020, Raul Khajimba resigned after the Supreme Court of Abkhazia annulled the results of the 2019 presidential election. Then Aslan Bzhaniya could not take part in the presidential elections due to his health (he and his supporters believe that Bzhaniya was poisoned). However, he won the March 2020 election with 56.50% of the vote. His opponent was Adgur Ardzinba, who won 35.42% of the votes.

• Abkhazia spontaneously declared independence from Georgia in 1992. This happened with active military support from Moscow, which led to an open war with Tbilisi. After the five-day war between Russia and Georgia in 2008, the Kremlin recognized the "independence" of the region, although most of the world community still recognizes Georgiaʼs sovereignty over Abkhazia.

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