Sokhumi: The leader of the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia resigned on Tuesday and was replaced by his deputy until new elections, days after protesters seized government buildings and forced him to scrap an unpopular deal with Russia.

Aslan Bzhania said he was stepping down as self-styled president of the Russian-backed territory “in order to maintain stability and constitutional order”, following negotiations with the opposition.

He had faced weeks of growing tensions, with the opposition calling for new elections and seizing buildings and bridges in protest against an agreement to open the property market of the Black Sea region to wealthy Russians.

Replacing him, his deputy Badra Ganba said in a video message: “I have given instructions to all leaders and state administration bodies to fulfil their functions... to preserve and ensure the vital activity of the state.” Russia’s TASS state news agency quoted a parliamentary official as saying that the timing of new presidential elections will be considered next week.

While Moscow has refrained from intervening, calling for a speedy normalisation of the situation, the Abkhazia crisis poses another headache for President Vladimir Putin, whose country has been waging a war against Ukraine for 1,000 days now.

The 61-year-old Bzhania, a former chief of the state security service who became head of state in 2020, is the third Abkhazian leader to be toppled in a similar way since 2008.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2024