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Conflict in Abkhazia

Updated at:

Abkhazia's parliament asks president to resign

The decision was made “in connection with the tense public and political situation and in order to preserve nationwide accord and stability in the state”

© ITAR-TASS/Artur Lebedev

SUKHUM, May 29. /ITAR-TASS/. The parliament of Abkhazia, the People’s Assembly, has adopted a resolution in which it asked the country’s president, Alexander Ankvab, to resign ahead of time.

The deputies also passed a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Leonid Lakerbaya as part of the same resolution.

The resolution was supported by 20 deputies with one abstention.

The document says the decisions were made “in connection with the tense public and political situation and in order to preserve nationwide accord and stability in the state”.

On Tuesday, the opposition gathered thousands of people in the center of the capital Sukhum demanding the resignation of the government, the prosecutor general and heads of the republic's eastern districts.

After unsuccessful talks with the president, opposition leader Raul Khadzhimba announced that the Coordinating Council of the opposition parties and organizations would act as a caretaker government.

Abkhazian President Alexander Ankvab accused the opposition of an attempt to overthrow the government. He noted that there was still a chance to steer the situation into the legal framework.

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