Abkhazian “coup”

Late on May 27, representatives of the Abkhaz opposition forced their way into the presidential administration in Sukhumi. Many Russian media called this seizure an example of Euromaidan-like tactics, even though no one has ever actually seized state administrative buildings in Kyiv. Let us recall that demonstrators in the Ukrainian capital occupied City Hall, which is a municipal property.

The Sukhumi seizure looked more like what happened in eastern Ukraine. After the united opposition-organized “popular assembly,” where demonstrators demanded reforms and the resignation of the government and the president, many activists stormed the presidential administration. Moreover, the opposition did not allow a pro-government rally to be held.

One of the Abkhazian opposition leaders Raul Khajimba said that the Coordinating Council of Parties and Civic Movements was assuming temporary control of the self-proclaimed republic. Khajimba is a former prime minister, who ran in the elections for the head of the breakaway republic in 2004, 2009 and 2011.

For his part, President of Abkhazia Alexander Ankvab said that what was happening in Abkhazia was “legally, of course, an attempt to seize power by armed force.” Negotiations with the opposition did not produce results, but he assured the public that the authorities were taking all measures to ensure that events in the country unfolded legally.

As noted by the media, it was not an anti-Russian or pro-Russian revolt. The assembly was held under the banners of Abkhazia and Russia and slogans “Down with Authoritarianism,” “We Demand Respect for Our Rights,” and “Give Us a Job.”

However, Russia expressed concern about the political crisis in Abkhazia. The Russian side is following the events “with attention and concern,” the Russian Foreign Ministry noted in its statement. A Russian delegation headed by presidential aide Vladislav Surkov and deputy secretary of the Security Council Rashid Nurgaliyev was expected to arrive in Sukhumi late on May 28.

The Day turned to Georgian political analyst David Beritashvili for a comment on the ongoing protests in Abkhazia.

“The Kremlin is shouting at them to stop it all the time. They are somewhat carried away there, without any political basis, but using the external trappings of the Euromaidan. There are no political reasons for the conflict. It is a conflict of clans with some of them deciding to change the government and allow others into the trough.

“There has been a long-running conflict there, as the government and the opposition quarreled. It has come about, above all, because of the Georgian population in Gali and Ochamchira districts and partly in Tkvarcheli district, which are adjacent to the administrative border of Georgia. There are 60,000 people living there out of a total of 240,000 and there may be the same problem there as we have witnessed in Crimea. For many generations, people who live there have exhibited the Georgian mentality. They have been given passports of Abkhazia, but they have kept passports of the Georgian state too, for various reasons.

“A year ago, we heard ultra-patriotic Abkhazians’ demands for the authorities to explain why they had given passports to people not loyal to the great Abkhazia. They began to demand prosecutorial investigations into who and how distributed passports, and was there any bribing of Abkhazian officials involved. The president is a cautious man who realizes that he should not multiply the ranks of his opponents by taking passports away, as it would hit Abkhazia’s relations with northern partners, including international humanitarian ties.

“However, these voices were becoming louder. This slogan is easy to pick up for dimwitted ultra-patriots who oppose living together with people not loyal to the Abkhazian state. Thus, the president came under increasing pressure. State apparatus also did not want these complications. The parliament took up the issue and decided that tens of thousands of passports were misdistributed. They demanded that the president fire heads of Ochamchira and Gali districts and the prosecutor who did a poor job when carrying out his investigation of possible corruption involved in distributing passports. That was the start of the conflict.

“There is no deeper political meaning to it, except that generally speaking, the Georgian population as well as any minority in Abkhazia tries to vote for those in power. The opposition believes that 20,000 people with Abkhazian passports are an electoral reserve of the ruling party, providing it with support when the time for the president’s re-election will come. However, should these tens of thousands of passports be taken away from the Georgian population who do not aspire to any rights, are downtrodden, and generally poor and powerless, then the opposition hopes to win the next election.

“We cannot say that there are any real differences between the ruling party and the opposition. They have slightly different slogans, that is all. Since they are all clearly Russia’s allies, there are no differences of opinion among them, in fact. That is, none of these opposing parties demands the European way as the Euromaidan did. They just try to persuade Russia: we will behave more loyally, so support us, please.

“As for the Kremlin, it is furious because they have to deal with Ukraine, and now there are some people running around there, and they do it without any authorization to boot.”