Parliamentary elections were held in

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...

on 4 March 2007, with a second round in seventeen constituencies on 18 March.

Electoral system

The 35 members of the People's Assembly were elected in single-member constituencies using the two-round system. A total of 189 polling stations were used for the elections, with 129,650 registered voters.

Campaign

A total of 136 candidates were nominated, including 26 MPs. The Community Party was the only party to formally nominate candidates, with all other candidates nominated by initiative groups. The Central Election Commission approved the registration of 130 candidates, of which 22 withdrew before election day. They included 92

Abkhazians Abkhazians (russian: Абхазы), or Abkhazs ( ab, Аԥсуаа, Aṕswaа, ), are a Northwest Caucasian languages, Northwest Caucasian ethnic group, mainly living in Abkhazia, a disputed region on the northeastern coast of the Black Sea. A l ...

, 10 Armenians, 5

Georgians The Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, G ...

, 4 Russians and one Ukrainian. President Sergei Bagapsh stressed the necessity of having a multi-ethnic parliament, where all the minorities were represented. He also stated that the prevailing issue of the election campaign was achieving international recognition for the de facto independent state. Three parties supported Bagapsh; the United Abkhazia, Aitaira and

Amtsakhara Amtsakhara ( ab, Амцахара) is the main opposition party in Abkhazia. Foundation On 31 March 1999, Amtsakhara was founded on the initiative of Sergei Dbar, Vladimir Nachach, Aki Ardzinba and Garik Samanba and a number of others as a pu ...

, whilst the Forum of Abkhaz People’s Unity supported Vice President

Raul Khadjimba Raul Jumkovich Khajimba ( ab, Рауль Џьумка-иҧа Ҳаџьымба, ka, რაულ ჯუმკას-ძე ჰაჯიმბა; born 21 March 1958) is an Abkhazian politician, and served as President of Abkhazia from 25 Septembe ...

Results

Of the 35 elected members, 28 supported President Bagapsh, seven the opposition. 26 were ethnic Abkhaz, three Russian, three Armenian, two Georgian and one Turkish. Voter turnout was 47.25% in the first round.4 МАРТА В АБХАЗИИ СОСТОЯЛИСЬ ВЫБОРЫ ДЕПУТАТОВ ПАРЛАМЕНТА
,

Apsnypress Apsnypress is the ''de facto'' state press agency of Abkhazia. Its stated goals is to assist in development of democracy, sovereignty and independence of the breakaway Abkhaz republic and to ensure the information security thereof. Detailed objec ...

, 5 March 2007

By district

Communist Party nominee Incumbent Backed by pro-presidential parties

Reactions

Neither Georgia nor the EU recognised the elections citing a lack of participation by Georgian refugees.

References

Parliamentary elections in Abkhazia