InfoAnda - Rebel Abkhazia elects president in 'illegitimate' vote

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Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail More Yahoo! Services Account Options New User? Sign Up Sign In Help Yahoo! Search web search Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Africa Europe Latin America Middle East North America Rebel Abkhazia elects president in 'illegitimate' vote AFP - Sunday, December 13 Send IM Story Print SUKHUMI, Georgia (AFP) - – The rebel region of Abkhazia went to the polls Saturday to elect a president in a vote viewed as illegitimate by most of the world but championed by Russia, the region's main sponsor. The election, in which separatist leader Sergei Bagapsh was expected to win a second term, was Abkhazia's first presidential vote since Russia recognised the region as independent in August last year after a brief war with Georgia. Only Nicaragua and Venezuela have joined Moscow in recognising the region's independence, while the rest of the world considers Abkhazia to be part of Georgia illegally occupied by Russian troops. Bagapsh is running against four rivals but despite their differences, all the candidates are strongly opposed to reunification with Georgia. Georgia condemned the vote as illegal. "These elections are a farce," Reintegration Minister Temur Yakobashvili, Georgia's top official for relations with the country's separatist regions, told AFP. "They are illegal." But Abkhazia was keen to show off the election as evidence that it is a democratic state ready to join the international community. "This process is part of our new life, our new era as an independent state," said Svetlana Kvarchia, a 54-year-old historian who voted at a school in the separatist capital Sukhumi. She added that she had voted for Bagapsh, saying: "He is a person who is taking our country forward." Russia, Abkhazia toast friendship on tense Georgia border Bagapsh has touted his strong ties to Moscow while seeking re-election in this small region of 216,000 people along the Black Sea, with campaign ads showing him next to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. In turn, opposition candidates have criticised Bagapsh for signing deals with Moscow that they claim infringed Abkhazia's sovereignty, such as one giving Russia control of the region's main railroad. Bagapsh's main challenger in the five-way race is his former vice president, Raul Khajimba, who resigned from his post in May. Results of the vote were to be announced by the Abkhaz central elections commission on Sunday at noon (0900 GMT). Opposition candidates said they expected the results to show Bagapsh winning a majority of the vote, but alleged widespread fraud, including dead people being added to voter rolls and voters casting multiple ballots. Khajimba's running mate, Vasily Avidzba, told AFP that his candidate would come in second but that Bagapsh was leading by a broad margin, according to poll monitors working for the Khajimba campaign. "They stole 20 to 25 percent from us. This is for certain," Zaur Ardzinba, another opposition candidate, told AFP. If Bagapsh wins over 50 percent of the vote, he will be re-elected with no need for a second round. The opposition had hoped to force Bagapsh into a run-off. Bagapsh meanwhile warned the opposition not to sow unrest, suggesting that a disputed election could weaken Abkhazia. "All presidential candidates are serious people, and they understand that today in Abkhazia we elect not only the president, but the course we will follow further," Bagapsh said, according to a statement from his press service. No major international election-monitoring organisations agreed to monitor Abkhazia's polls, and only Russia and Venezuela sent observers in an official capacity. Moscow sent its monitors to demonstrate that Abkhazia was a normal country, said Alexei Ostrovsky, a member of the Russian parliament who was in the rebel region as an election observer. "Since we consider Abkhazia a sovereign, independent state, we send observers here just like anywhere else, like Ukraine or France," he said. Turnout in the Abkhaz election stood at 58 percent a few hours before polls closed, election officials said. Recommend Send IM Story Print Related Articles Can Chile's fractured left beat a billionaire? 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