SUKHUM, November 17. /TASS/. Abkhazia’s opposition has agreed that Vice President Badra Gunba would act as president, Adgur Ardzinba, leader of the Abkhazian Popular Movement, said.
"We have made a decision that the vice president [Badra Gunba] will be acting as president but the entire cabinet is to resign. We will appoint our candidate, a compromise figure, to replace the current prime minister. This way, we will balance the executive branch to exclude the use of the administrative resource in favor of a representative of the current team at the upcoming presidential election," he said.
According to Ardzinba, the opposition reject Abkhazian President Aslan Bzhania’s proposal that he would resign only after the opposition leaves the governmental compound. "This is unacceptable. He can sign his resignation anywhere," he added.
Situation in Abkhazia
Abkhazia’s parliament was expected to consider the ratification of the agreement with Russia on the implementation of investment projects in Abkhazia by Russian legal entities, but the session was canceled after the lawmakers failed to agree upon its agenda. The opposition, meanwhile, demanded that the issue be removed from the agenda entirely.
Later, the opposition demanded President Aslan Bzhania resign. However, Bzhania refused to step down and called on people not to yield to provocations.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Russia had not interfered into Abkhazia’s domestic process and hoped that the situation would be settled peacefully. The ministry warned Russian nationals against trips to Abkhazia. Deputy speaker of Russia’s Federation Council, or upper house of parliament, Konstantin Kosachev, told TASS that Russia supports the constitutional order in the friendly country and stressed that Russia has never supported state coups.