Abkhazian presidential election, 1999

This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Abkhazia
See also

Politics portal

The first Presidential election of the Republic of Abkhazia was held on 3 October 1999 at the same time as a referendum on the constitution. In August, the Central Election Commission headed by Viacheslav Tsugba set-up 28 electoral districts for the purpose of the election.[1] Outgoing President Vladislav Ardzinba was nominated by the national-patriotic movement Apsny,[2] and also received the support of the Communist Party[3] and the Abkhaz diaspora in Turkey.[4] He stood unopposed in the election.[5]

On 2 September, the Central Election Commission registered the nomination of former Foreign Minister Leonid Lakerbaia by his People's Party,[6] but his candidacy was not approved.[7]

The Central Election Commission also denied registration to Yahya Kazan, who had been Abkhazia's representative in the United States of America, on the grounds that he had not lived in Abkhazia for the previous five years and that he did not have a working command of Abkhaz.[8]

There were also rumours that former Vice Chairman Zurab Achba of Aidgylara would run for president, which he dismissed in an interview with Nuzhnaya Gazeta as a "nightmare of an idea".[9]

Result

According to the preliminary results, Ardzinba had obtained 186,792 out of 188,604 votes cast (99.04%), with 1683 votes 'against all' (0.89%). There were 214,503 registered voters in total, making the turnout 88%.[10][note 1]

 Summary of the 3 October 1999 Abkhazian presidential election results
Presidential candidate Vice Presidential candidate votes %
Vladislav Ardzinba Valeri Arshba 186,792 99.04
Against all 1,683 0.89
Invalid 129 0.07
Total number of votes cast 188,604 100.00
Turnout 188,604 87.93
Abstention 25,899 12.07
Total number of registered voters 214,503 100.00
Source: Lenta.ru

Notes

  1. ↑ In 2006, the International Crisis Group reported that Ardzinba had received 190,013 out of 192,175 votes, and that the total number of registered voters was 219,000.

References

  1. ↑ "Daily News August 9, 1999". Sarke. 9 August 1999. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  2. ↑ "Daily News August 11, 1999". Sarke. 11 August 1999. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  3. ↑ "Daily News August 16, 1999". Sarke. 16 August 1999. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  4. ↑ "Daily News October 1, 1999". Sarke. 1 October 1999. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  5. ↑ Wheatley, Jonathan (2005). Georgia from national awakening to Rose Revolution: delayed transition in the former Soviet Union. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 121. ISBN 0-7546-4503-7.
  6. ↑ "Daily News September 3, 1999". Sarke. 3 September 1999. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  7. ↑ Sharia, Vitali (5 September 2011). "Как в Абхазии президентов выбирали". Ekho Kavkaza. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  8. ↑ Tesemnikova, Ekaterina (7 July 2001). "Тбилиси ищет альтернативу Ардзинбе". Независимая газета. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  9. ↑ "Daily News August 13, 1999". Sarke. 13 August 1999. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  10. ↑ "Ардзинба переизбран президентом Абхазии". Lenta.ru. 4 October 1999. Retrieved 5 October 2014.