Menu
Removal of Aslan Bzhania
This article was originally published on the Echo of the Caucasus website. The text and terminology of the article are reproduced unchanged. All rights belong to Echo of the Caucasus. Original publication date: September 4, 2024
Without waiting for the return of the self-proclaimed Republic of Abkhazia’s President Aslan Bzhania, the Abkhaz opposition is declaring its intention to take steps to remove him from office. At a meeting of the public and the united opposition in the Abkhaz capital, it was announced that preparations are underway for a public assembly aimed at “putting an end to the presidency of someone who, instead of protecting the interests of the Abkhaz people, is betraying them.”
Aslan Bzhania apparently has not returned to Abkhazia despite the ongoing political crisis exacerbated by the sanctions imposed by Russia on the self-proclaimed republic. At least, the Abkhaz leader has not been seen in public since last Saturday, as noted by local journalist and editor of Chegemskaya Pravda, Inal Khashig:
“But it is Tuesday evening, and Bzhania is still missing. His press service, ‘Amtsakhara,’ Sergey Shamba, and Raul Lolua, along with a dozen well-known and lesser-known individuals, are speaking on his behalf, but not Bzhania himself. On Saturday, he was seen in Ufa eating chak-chak. Since then there has been no information about his whereabouts. It feels like Bzhania is prepared to be ‘on a business trip’ until the crisis resolves itself. It won’t resolve itself. Just pass that on.”
At today’s meeting with opposition members and public figures, the call for Bzhania to resign was reiterated. The chairman of the republican public organization “Our Capital,” Lasha Shamba, read a statement blaming Bzhania for the “complication of interstate relations” with Russia and emphasizing the need for “urgent anti-crisis measures.”
“Exercising the rights provided by Article 2 and Article 17 of the Constitution of the Republic of Abkhazia, we are starting activities aimed at the unconditional, early resignation of Aslan Georgievich Bzhania from the position of President of the Republic of Abkhazia,” Shamba announced.
A clarification is needed here. The articles cited by the opposition do not contain any direct reference to the procedure for removing a president from power. Article 2 states:
“Popular sovereignty is the foundation of state power in the Republic of Abkhazia. The bearer of sovereignty and the sole source of power in the Republic of Abkhazia is its people – the citizens of the Republic of Abkhazia. The people exercise their power directly or through their representatives.”
Article 17 is even shorter:
“All people have the right to unite, hold peaceful meetings, gatherings, marches, and demonstrations.”
Given the content of these constitutional articles, the opposition’s statement is more accurately viewed as an announcement of peaceful assemblies – particularly a public gathering, which many politicians have recently been advocating.
In fact, no other legal impeachment procedure for the president has been developed in Abkhazia, despite numerous appeals from politicians (naturally, opposition ones) and representatives of the expert community. There is only the declarative Article 64 of the Constitution:
“In the case of the President of the Republic of Abkhazia violating the oath taken, the Constitution, and the laws of the Republic of Abkhazia, he may be removed from office. Such a decision is made by the Parliament of the Republic of Abkhazia based on a conclusion from the Supreme Court of the Republic of Abkhazia by a two-thirds majority of the total number of deputies of the Parliament of the Republic of Abkhazia through a secret ballot.”
The opposition does not refer to this article, presumably understanding its futility under the current president’s complete control over the judiciary.
Meanwhile, experts are joining the discussion of the controversial protocol from Aslan Bzhania’s meeting with Dmitry Kozak, Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation. Economist Akhra Arista expressed bewilderment in an interview with Apsny Khabar at the fact that the reduction in Russian funding is being portrayed as sanctions against Abkhazia:
“Abkhazia was supposed to independently cover the salaries in the public sector, as stipulated in the agreement [with Russia]. The executive branch assumed these obligations but did not fulfill them.”
Lawyer Omar Smyr also addressed this issue, and his comments were published by the agency Aiaashara. Here is a snippet:
“It is worth noting that the current authorities are trying to present as one of the elements of sanctions the fact that the program of co-financing public sector salaries has been discontinued. However, the authorities forget to mention that they had committed to reducing the co-financing amount to 15% by 2025. It is strange to hear in September 2024 that such a ‘punishment’ is unexpected. The same approach applies to electricity payments. It is odd that this has surprised the authorities, especially considering that we paid for commercial electricity last year as well.”
Omar Smyr also noted that the current Abkhaz-Russian agenda is not a result of the Treaty of Alliance and Strategic Partnership:
“In the aforementioned treaty, there are no issues such as the law on apartments, the Agreement on Recognition and Enforcement of Judicial Decisions, or the Agreement on Investment Projects. This agenda became relevant only after Aslan Bzhania and Alexander Ankvab took on the OBLIGATION on November 12, 2020, to implement 45 issues within the Program for the Formation of a Common Socio-Economic Space (known to us as the harmonization plan).”
Regarding the fact that these obligations undertaken by the executive branch are not obligations of the legislative branch, which handles the above-mentioned issues, parliament deputy Erik Rshtuni spoke today, reminding the assembly of the separation of powers in Abkhazia.
Removal of Aslan Bzhania
