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Abkhazian opposition poised to impeach president

Earlier in the day, opposition delegates met with the country's president

SUKHUM, December 22. /TASS/. Abkhazia’s opposition is set to initiate the procedure of removing President Aslan Bzhania from office, according to a resolution adopted and read out during a rally on Tuesday night.

Opposition leader Akhra Bzhania named energy problems in the republic among the reasons.

"Our demands are as follows: due to the head of state’s serious violation of his constitutional duties, the procedure of removing the president from office should be initiated as envisaged by the law, via the parliament of the Republic of Abkhazia; all energy-related, property and foreign policy initiatives of the president should be suspended while the resignation procedure is under way; the constitution should be amended to ensure transition to the mixed electoral system, aimed at ensuring party representation in the parliament of the seventh convocation," Akhra Bzhania said.

Among other demands, he named scrapping the post of the prime minister and introducing parliamentary approval for government members.

"In order to put the above-mentioned demands into practice, and due to the difficult situation, the powers of the current parliament should be extended by one year," the opposition leader said.

Earlier, the opposition of Abkhazia called upon citizens to gather for a rally outside governmental buildings on Theatre Square in the capital Sukhum. Interior Minister Valter Butba urged citizens not to participate. The rally took place on Tuesday. President of Abkhazia Aslan Bzhania met with opposition leaders later in the day, and the event was wrapped up shortly after.

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