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Conflict in Abkhazia

Beslan Butba appointed Abkhazia’s acting vice-premier

Butba is the leader of the centrist Party of Economic Development, and experts believe that he might be one of the presidential candidates

Beslan Butba ITAR-TASS/Dmitry Aleshkovsky/Archive

Beslan Butba

© ITAR-TASS/Dmitry Aleshkovsky/Archive

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Acting president of Abkhazia makes appointments to several key posts

SUKHUM, June 13. /ITAR-TASS/. Beslan Butba has been appointed Abkhazia’s acting vice-premier. Acting President Valery Bganba signed a decree to this effect on Friday.

Butba is the leader of the centrist Party of Economic Development. Earlier, experts believed that he might be one of the presidential candidates. The elections in Abkhazia are scheduled to take place in August 24, 2014.

On May 31, Abkhazia’s parliament appointed its speaker Valery Bganba the country’s interim president and took a decision to organize early presidential elections on August 24.

On June 1, Bganba took over as Abkhazia’s acting President after Alexander Ankvab announced his resignation and handed over the official seat of the state to him.

Leader of the Abkhazian opposition and member of the national parliament Raul Khadzhimba said that formally Ankvab could run for president.

Ankvab's resignation

Ankvab was elected President of the Republic of Abkhazia on August 26, 2011 gaining 54.9% of the vote. He took office on September 26, 2011.

On May 27, 2014, the Abkhazian opposition gathered thousands of people in the center of the capital Sukhum, demanding the resignation of Ankvab and the Abkhazian government.

On April 29, Abkhazian political opposition demanded that President Ankvab dismiss the cabinet led by Prime Minister Leonid Lakerbaia and set up a national trust government. It also demanded the resignation of the country’s Prosecutor General and the heads of administration of two districts, saying that they had handed out Abkhazian passports en masse to the citizens of neighboring Georgia who had not dropped Georgian citizenship.

Abkhazian legislation permits dual citizenship with the Russian Federation only.

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