The candidate for the presidency of Abkhazia Badra Gunba announced his victory after the second round of voting held in the republic. He made these statements during a meeting with supporters at the headquarters.
„You all know the preliminary results, this result is due to the trust that the citizens of our country have voted for us, for our team, and most importantly, this is the result of the vote of our people. This is not a victory for the team of Badra Gunba and Beslan Bigvava, this should be a victory for the people of Abkhazia for the sake of the future of our country,“ Gunba said.
Abkhazia is a partially recognized state in the South Caucasus with the capital Sukhumi and a population of about 240,000.
The political status of Abkhazia is a central issue in the Abkhaz-Georgian conflict and relations between Georgia and Russia. Abkhazia is recognized as an independent state by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Syria, but the Georgian government and almost all UN member states consider Abkhazia to be a sovereign territory of Georgia. Without effective control over the territory of Abkhazia, Georgia maintains an Abkhaz government in exile.
The region enjoyed autonomy within Soviet Georgia as the Soviet Union began to disintegrate in the late 1980s.