A referendum on holding early presidential elections was held in
Abkhazia
Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which v ...
on 10 July 2016.
[Abkhazia to Hold Referendum on Snap Presidential Election]
Civil, 2 June 2016 The referendum was declared invalid due to low turnout (1.23%), after both sides decided to boycott it.
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Background
A petition calling for a referendum was started by an initiative group in March 2016,
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 30 June 2016 who were required to obtain 10,000 signatures. On 22 April, the initiative group handed over the petition to the Central Election Commission with 19,314 signatures, stating that it had collected 21,226 signatures but had omitted those that were invalid because the information of the signatory was incomplete.
The referendum was approved by a decree signed by President
Raul Khajimba
Raul Jumkovich Khajimba ( ab, Рауль Џьумка-иҧа Ҳаџьымба, ka, რაულ ჯუმკას-ძე ჰაჯიმბა; born 21 March 1958) is an Abkhazian politician, and served as President of Abkhazia from 25 Septembe ...
on 1 June.
[ On 28 June, CEC Chairman ]Batal Tabagua
Batal Tabagua ( ab, Баҭал Табаҕәуа, ka, ბატალ ტაბაღუა) is the Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Abkhazia. He was appointed to the Central Election Commission December 11, 2004 by o ...
announced that there would be no polling stations outside Abkhazia.
Interior Ministry crisis
In the run-up to the referendum, Interior Minister Leonid Dzapshba
Leonid Yurivich Dzapshba ( ab, Леонид Иури-иҧа Ӡаҧшьба; born January 1, 1961) is a two-time Minister for Internal Affairs of Abkhazia, a former Presidential candidate and the former head of the Football Federation of Abkhazia. ...
gave a speech to officials at the Ministry that angered opposition activists, who claimed Dzapshba had pressured the officials not to participate in the referendum and threatened them with dismissal. On 20 June, three of Dzapshba's predecessors as Interior Minister, Abesalom Beia, Otar Khetsia and Raul Lolua
Raul Lolua (russian: Рауль Валериевич Лолуа) is a former Minister for Internal Affairs of Abkhazia.
Following the May 2014 Revolution, Lolua, previously Head of the State Security Service's Special Forces Centre, was appointe ...
, called upon President Khajimba to dismiss him.
Results
The referendum was declared invalid due to low turnout (1.23%) as it was boycotted by both the government and the opposition. Of those who voted, a majority was against holding an early election.[Expert: Abkhazia referendum outcome - victory of incumbent president]
TASS, 11 July 2016
References
{{Abkhazian elections
Abkhazian early presidential elections referendum
Early presidential elections referendum
2016
Abkhazian early presidential elections referendum