The second round of the presidential election in the self-proclaimed Republic of Abkhazia is set to take place on Saturday. Prominent politician Badra Gunba, the winner of the first round and opposition leader Adgur Ardsinba are vying for the presidency.
According to a briefing held by the Central Election Commission of Abkhazia on Saturday afternoon, the runoff election has been deemed valid. The commission’s head, Dmitri Marschan, stated, “As of 3:00 pm, we can consider the election in the Republic of Abkhazia as having taken place, as by 3:00 pm, 43 percent or 62,852 voters had cast their ballots.”
In the first round of the presidential election, held on February 15, Gunba received 46.38 percent of the votes, while Ardsinba garnered 36.92 percent.
The voting process will take place from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm Moscow time, with 152 polling stations available in Abkhazia and two additional stations in Russia, in Moscow and Cherkessk.
To win in the second round, a candidate must receive more votes than their opponent, plus the number of votes in the “Against All” column, which is more than 50 percent of the total votes. If not, the election commission will set a new election date.
In 2008, Georgia lost control of its breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in a five-day war with Russia. Russia recognized Abkhazia as an independent state under the presidency of Dmitri Medvedev, one of the few countries to do so. Since the war, regular units of the Russian military have been stationed in both Abkhazia and South Ossetia, with Georgia considering the regions as occupied by Russia.