Abkhazian New Union Treaty referendum, 1991

On 17 March 1991 a referendum was organised in the Abkhazian ASSR, in which the population was asked to express its opinion over the New Union Treaty, through which the Soviet Union would have been reorganised into a less centralised state. The referendum was largely boycotted by the Georgian section of society, thereby following the example of the rest of the Georgian SSR where no referendum was organised. Vice versa, the non-Georgian population stayed home when about a month later a referendum was held concerning Georgian independence.

Results

166,544 people cast a vote, of which 98.61% were in favour of the new union treaty, as against 0.94% opposed, with 0.45% of the votes invalid. The 166,544 voters represented a turnout of 52.32% out of 318,317 officially registered voters.^[1]

Consequences

The Union Treaty was approved in the republics where referendums were held, but its coming into effect was prevented by the August 1991 coup attempt and the subsequent dissolution of the Soviet Union on 26 December.

The fact that voters in Abkhazia approved the new union treaty while the Georgian SSR declared its independence on 9 April has been advanced by Abkhazia as an argument that Georgia became de jure independent from the Soviet Union without Abkhazia, which was then free to choose its own future.^[2] The argument is based on Soviet law which stated that if a union republic like Georgia should choose to secede, that its autonomous parts like Abkhazia then have the right to decide for themselves their political future. Georgian arguments against this line of reasoning include the claim that the relevant law was illegal as it infringed on the sovereign rights of the Georgian SSR, or that Georgian secession was not based on this law - which stipulated a lengthy exit procedure - but rather on the Georgian SSR's fundamental sovereignty.

References

Elections and referendums in Abkhazia Presidential elections 1999 2004 2005 2009 2011 2014 Parliamentary elections 1996 2002 2007 2012 Local elections 1998 2001 2004 2007 2011 Referendums 1991 1999

Elections and referendums in the Soviet Union Legislative elections 1921 1924 1925 1927 1929 1931 1935 1936 1937 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1979 1984 1989 Regional elections 1938 1939 1947 1951 1955 1959 1985 1990 Referendums 1991

Georgian–Abkhazian conflict
Timeline	Abkhazian side	Georgian side
1989 Sukhumi riots 1991 Abkhazian New Union Treaty referendum 1992–1993 War in Abkhazia 1992 Battle of Sukhumi October 1992 Battle of Gagra 1992–1993 Siege of Tkvarcheli July 1993 Massacre in Kamani September 1993 Transair Georgia airliner shootdowns September 1993 Massacre in Sukhumi Ethnic cleansing of Georgians 1994 Moscow agreement 1998 War in Abkhazia 2001 Kodori crisis 2006 Kodori crisis 2007 Georgia helicopter incident 2007 Georgia plane downing incident 2007 Bokhundjara incident 2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns 2008 Khurcha incident 2008 Abkhazia bombings 2008 Achamkhara incident 2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis 2008 Russo-Georgian war Battle off the coast of Abkhazia Battle of the Kodori Valley 2008 Post-war events 2009 Russo-Georgian relations	Military forces: Military of Abkhazia Abkhazian Air Force Bagramyan Battalion Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus Key leaders: Vladislav Ardzinba Sergei Bagapsh Alexander Ankvab Valeri Bganba Raul Khajimba	Military forces: Military of Georgia Military of Georgia Georgian Air Force Georgian Navy Mkhedrioni White Legion Forest Brothers Key leaders: Zhiuli Shartava † Zviad Gamsakhurdia † Eduard Shevardnadze Mikheil Saakashvili Giorgi Margvelashvili