Zaur Ardzinba (Заур Джотович Ардзинба; 8 May 1950 – 15 April 2015) was a businessman from
Abkhazia
Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...
who unsuccessfully ran for President in the 2009 election.
2009 election
Attempt by Khajimba and Ardzinba to form an alliance
In the run-up to the election, various opposition politicians and organisation often jointly expressed their criticism of the government. The Russian newspaper
Kommersant
(, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia certified July 2013 circulation of the daily ...
reported that during the nomination period for candidates,
Raul Khajimba
Raul Jumkovich Khajimba (, ka, რაულ ჯუმკას-ძე ჰაჯიმბა; born 21 March 1959) is an Abkhazians, Abkhazian politician who served as President of Abkhazia from 25 September 2014 until 12 January 2020. He was also ...
and Ardzinba negotiated about running together. The alliance would have combined Ardzinba's backing by part of the business community and his financial resources with Khajimba's electoral popularity. The pair said they would run together during two meetings with voters, and the idea was that they would receive the joint nomination by the Forum of the National Unity of Abkhazia. According to Kommersant, in the end, the pair could not agree on the positions they would get. Khajimba wanted the Presidency, and offered Ardzinba the position of Prime Minister, but this was not acceptable to the latter. The congress of the Forum of the National Unity of Abkhazia, planned for 29 October, was called off, and Ardzinba was instead nominated by an initiative group on the day. An initiative group had already nominated Khajimba on 19 October.
Nevertheless, on 18 November, Khajimba and Ardzinba announced that they would continue to coordinate their campaigns and had appointed
Ochamchira District
Ochamchira District is a district of the partially recognized Abkhazia. Its capital is Ochamchire, the town by the same name. The district is smaller than the Ochamchire Municipality, Ochamchire district in the de jure Administrative divisions of ...
Governor Khrips Jopua as Vice-Presidential candidate.
Election campaign
On 20 November, Zaur Ardzinba requested that the Central Election Commission publish the names of the members of the central, district and divisional election commissions, including those abroad.
On 24 November, Ardzinba gave a press conference in which he stated that if elected President, he would do everything to bring together the fragmented people of Abkhazia and remove the divide between 'us' and 'them'. He also declared that he would utilize qualified individuals from all political camps in the government administration.
On 11 December, Ardzinba declared that while the power-sharing agreement that resolved the 2004 post-election crisis had been intended to bring an end to the division in Abkhazian society, it had in fact failed to do so, and that he meant to correct that. He added that while the 2004 election had been 'stolen', the opposition would not allow that to happen this time. Ardzinba also spoke out against the size of the bureaucracy, lamenting the duplication of functions.
Result
According to the official result, Ardzinba came in third place, garnering 9296 votes (9.14% of the total).