Abkhazia was awaiting preliminary results Sunday from a presidential
election that pitted Russia against Georgia as each tried to shape the
political course of the separatist Georgian region.About
two thirds of around 130,000 registered voters cast their ballots
Saturday at polling stations throughout the small, subtropical province
on the Black Sea coast. It was the first vote since Moscow recognized
Abkhazia's independence in the wake of Russia's war with Georgia in
August 2008.
Each voter had his passport stamped to avoid fraud
and multiple voting. Their vote will test the ties that NATO
re-established with Russia last week. Political ties between the Cold
War foes had been severed for more than a year after Russia recognized
Abkhazia and another breakaway Georgian region, South Ossetia.
The province is home to some 40,000 ethnic Georgians who are not eligible to vote because they don't hold Abkhazian passports.
The
Abkhazians voted for a leader whose main tasks will be to shape
relations with Russia and develop a functioning economy and
bureaucracy, all while fighting claims against his legitimacy made by
Georgia and much of the international community.
In addition to Russia, only Nicaragua and Venezuela have recognized Abkhazia's independence.
Georgian
President Mikhail Saakashvili's spokeswoman condemned the vote as a
Kremlin-orchestrated farce and called Abkhazia an "occupied territory."
Georgia has claimed that Russia is seeking to annex Abkhazia and South
Ossetia.
Although the fighting in last year's war was focused on
South Ossetia, Abkhaz forces with help from the Russian military
succeeded in pushing Georgian troops out of the last bit of territory
they held in Abkhazia.
Abkhazia's incumbent president, Sergei
Bagapsh, who is the front-runner, has since used financial and
diplomatic support from Russia to shore up the region's claim to
independence.
But his four challengers have significant backing,
and their campaigns are likely to push the election into a runoff vote
to decide the winner. All the five presidential hopefuls are opposed to
reunification with Georgia and hail closer ties with Russia.
Three
opposition candidates decried multiple violations throughout the
province saying the number of voters in several districts surpassed the
number of registered residents.
Russia's representative in
Abkhazia, Semyon Grigoryev, pointed to the deep bond Russia and
Abkhazia share, while insisting that Moscow was not supporting any one
candidate.
At a meeting in Brussels on Dec. 4, NATO and Russia
resumed their political dialogue, which NATO had broken off after the
war in Georgia. The two sides agreed to move forward on cooperation in
Afghanistan and other security issues.
___
Associated Press Writer Simon Shuster contributed to this report from Kiev, Ukraine.
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1131528&lang=eng_news
