Sergei Shamba
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Sergei Shamba ( ab, Сергеи Шамба, ka, სერგეი შამბა) is a senior politician from
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 ...
. He is currently a member of the
People's Assembly of Abkhazia The People's Assembly — Parliament of the Republic of Abkhazia ( ab, Аҧсны Жәлар Реизара – Апарламент, ka, აფხაზეთის რესპუბლიკის სახალხო კრება, russi ...
and Chairman of
United Abkhazia United Abkhazia ( ab, Аԥсны Акзаара, russian: Единая Абхазия) is a political party in Abkhazia. United Abkhazia was founded on March 25, 2004 as a socio-political movement, with the specific goal of presenting a single opp ...
. He was
Prime Minister of Abkhazia The prime minister of Abkhazia is the ''de facto'' head of government of the partially recognized Republic of Abkhazia, that is ''de jure'' part of Georgia. History Government of President Vladislav Ardzinba While the presidency was held by ...
under President
Sergei Bagapsh Sergei Uasyl-ipa Bagapsh, ka, სერგეი ბაგაფში, russian: Сергей Васильевич Багапш, translit=Sergey Vasilyevich Bagapsh (4 March 1949 – 29 May 2011) was an Abkhaz politician who served as th ...
from 13 February 2010 until 27 September 2011. Between 1997 and 2010 he had been
Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between coun ...
under both Bagapsh and his predecessor
Vladislav Ardzinba Vladislav Ardzinba ( ab, Владислав Арӡынба, ka, ვლადისლავ არძინბა; 14 May 1945 – 4 March 2010) was the first ''de facto'' President of Abkhazia. A historian by education, Ardzinba led Abkhazia t ...
, with only a half-year interruption in 2004. Shamba has twice unsuccessfully participated in presidential elections, in 2004 and 2011. He has been a staunch proponent for dialogue between
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 ...
and
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
.


Early life and career

Sergei Shamba was born on 15 March 1951 in
Gudauta Gudauta ( ka, გუდაუთა, ; ab, Гәдоуҭа, ''Gwdowtha''; russian: Гудаута, ''Gudauta'') is a town in Abkhazia, Georgia, and a centre of the eponymous district. It is situated on the Black Sea, 37 km northwest of Sukhu ...
. He entered politics at the age of 24. Until February 1992, Shamba was the head of
Aidgylara The National Forum Aidgylara ( ab, Аидгылара, ''Unity'') is a socio-political movement in Abkhazia. It was founded during Perestroika as the ethno-nationalist movement representing the Abkhaz people. Aidgylara's founding congress took p ...
, which played a leading role in Abkhazia's struggle for independence. During the 1992-1993 War in Abkhazia, he served as First Deputy Minister of Defence.


Minister for Foreign Affairs (first time)

On 7 May 1997, Shamba became Minister for Foreign Affairs, succeeding Konstantin Ozgan. Throughout his time as foreign minister, it often fell to Shamba to defend Abkhazia's separation from
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
in the international media. He has been a strong supporter of Abkhazian independence, and has flatly opposed any attempts at reunification with Georgia. Though he has headed several Abkhaz delegations to
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
-sponsored talks with Georgia, Abkhazia has failed to receive any international recognition. As foreign minister, Shamba dealt with several leaders of non-government organizations, meeting, among others, International
Red Crescent The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
Organization president Jean Michel Corbot. He succeeded in gaining
USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...
assistance for several reconstruction projects in
Sukhumi Sukhumi (russian: Суху́м(и), ) or Sokhumi ( ka, სოხუმი, ), also known by its Abkhaz name Aqwa ( ab, Аҟәа, ''Aqwa''), is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the capital and largest city of ...
. In 1998, Shamba received his Doctorate from the Yerevan Institute of Archeology. On 9 July 2001, Shamba was awarded the diplomatic rank of Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador. Shamba resigned from the post of foreign minister on June 14, 2004, citing a number of reasons, such as the murder, five days before, of fellow opposition leader
Garri Aiba Garri Aiba ( ka, გარი აიბა, tr; died 9 June 2004) was an opposition leader in Republic of Abkhazia at the time of his murder. He died when his car came under fire on 9 June 2004. History Garri Aiba was a veteran of the 1992-199 ...
and the upcoming presidential elections. After his resignation, he openly called for the entire government to stand aside.


October 2004 presidential election

Shamba was one of the favorites to receive the nomination of the newly forged
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 ...
-
United Abkhazia United Abkhazia ( ab, Аԥсны Акзаара, russian: Единая Абхазия) is a political party in Abkhazia. United Abkhazia was founded on March 25, 2004 as a socio-political movement, with the specific goal of presenting a single opp ...
opposition alliance for the October 2004 presidential elections. However, on July 20, 2004, the movements named former prime minister
Sergei Bagapsh Sergei Uasyl-ipa Bagapsh, ka, სერგეი ბაგაფში, russian: Сергей Васильевич Багапш, translit=Sergey Vasilyevich Bagapsh (4 March 1949 – 29 May 2011) was an Abkhaz politician who served as th ...
and Stanislav Lakoba as their respective presidential and vice presidential candidates. Shamba still participated in the election with
Vladimir Arshba Vladimir Georgievich Arshba (russian: Владимир Георгиевич Аршба; 8 May 1959 – 16 January 2018) was an Abkhaz soldier and politician who served as the first Minister of Defence of the Republic of Abkhazia, an unrecognised ...
as his running mate and he came in third place with 6.9% of the vote. After the election a conflict broke between front runners
Sergei Bagapsh Sergei Uasyl-ipa Bagapsh, ka, სერგეი ბაგაფში, russian: Сергей Васильевич Багапш, translit=Sergey Vasilyevich Bagapsh (4 March 1949 – 29 May 2011) was an Abkhaz politician who served as th ...
and
Raul Khajimba 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 September ...
, which was only resolved when the two teams agreed to hold new elections in which they would participate on a joint ticket. During the crisis on 15 October Shamba had founded the
Social-Democratic Party of Abkhazia The Social-Democratic Party of Abkhazia (russian: Социал-демократическая партия Абхазии; ka, სოციალურ დემოკრატიული პარტიის აფხაზეთის, tr) is ...
along with other people from his election campaign, chief of staff Gennadi Alamia became its first chairman. The Social-Democratic Party called on voters to boycott the new elections and Shamba did not participate in it.


Minister for Foreign Affairs (second time) and Prime Minister

On 15 December 2004 Shamba had again been appointed Minister for Foreign affairs by Ardzinba, replacing
Igor Akhba Igor Muratovich Akhba ( Abkhaz: Игор Мурат-иҧа Ахба; ka, იგორ ახბა; russian: Игорь Муратович Ахба) (born 5 February 1949) is an Abkhaz diplomat and politician. From 2008 until 2021 he was the firs ...
. The power-sharing agreement between Bagapsh and Khajimba stipulated that the latter could appoint the new
Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between coun ...
, and Khajimba chose to keep Sergei Shamba, despite the fact that Bagapsh long insisted on appointing Natella Akaba. Even though Shamba had now joined the government, the social-democratic party stayed in opposition. On 20 May 2009 the Social-Democratic Party was one of a number of opposition parties that during a press conference strongly criticised the government's foreign policy. The criticism was rejected by Shamba two days later, dismissing it as "biased". Despite being considered by some to again be a possible candidate, Shamba did not participate in the December 2009 presidential election. The election resulted in a second term for Sergei Bagapsh, and on 13 February 2010, Shamba was appointed prime minister, succeeding Alexander Ankvab, who had become vice president. On 26 February Shamba was succeeded as Foreign Minister by his deputy
Maxim Gvinjia Maxim Gvinjia ( ab, Максим Ӷәынџьиа, ka, მაქსიმ ღვინჯია) is the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia. Before he was appointed on 26 February 2010 to replace Sergei Shamba, Gvinjia had served as ...
.


August 2011 presidential election and retirement from active politics

The next presidential election was originally scheduled to take place in 2014, however, the
Constitution of Abkhazia The Constitution of the Republic of Abkhazia (russian: Конститу́ция Респу́блики Абха́зия) was adopted by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Abkhazia of the 12th convocation on 26 November 1994, and by the nationa ...
required an election to be held within three months after the unexpected death of incumbent president
Sergei Bagapsh Sergei Uasyl-ipa Bagapsh, ka, სერგეი ბაგაფში, russian: Сергей Васильевич Багапш, translit=Sergey Vasilyevich Bagapsh (4 March 1949 – 29 May 2011) was an Abkhaz politician who served as th ...
on 29 May 2011. Only three candidates participated: Shamba, outgoing Vice President and Acting President
Alexander Ankvab Aleksandr Zolotinskovich Ankvab ( ; ab, Алықьсандр Золотинска-иԥа Анқәаб, ka, ალექსანდრე ზოლოტინსკის ძე ანქვაბი, russian: Алекса́ндр Золот ...
and opposition leader
Raul Khajimba 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 September ...
. Shamba's vice presidential candidate was deputy chairman of the State Committee for Youth Affairs and Sport
Shamil Adzynba Shamil Adzynba ( ab, Шамиль Аӡынба, ka, შამილ აძინბა; born 21 May 1970) is the current First Vice Premier of Abkhazia in the Government of President Khajimba, and a two-time acting Prime Minister. August 2011 P ...
. The pair was nominated by an initiative group on 8 July and applied for registration on 16 July. All presidential candidates passed their Abkhaz language test on 20 July 2011, were formally registered by the Central Election Commission on 25 July and received their certificates on 26 July. Shamba and Adzynba received political support from the Party for Economic Development on 21 July, 10 (out of 12) members of the Association of Youth Organisations on 28 July and the
Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
9 August. The election campaign was led by
Beslan Eshba Beslan Eshba is a vice premier of Abkhazia and the head of a sociopolitical organization Apsadgyl ( ab, Апсадгьыл). Prior to his current position, he was a deputy commander in the Sukhumi battalion and an advisor to the President of Abkh ...
. The election was won by Alexander Ankvab. Shamba came in second place with 21.02% of the vote, narrowly ahead of Khajimba. After the election, Shamba retired from active politics. Observers noted that Shamba would have been above the legal maximum age for the Presidency at the time of the next election. Shamba himself has stated that he wanted to make way for younger politicians, hoping that Abkhazia had entered a new phase of sustained development and conflict-free transfers of power.


Member of Parliament (second time) and Chairman of United Abkhazia

Shamba was one of the leaders of the protests that led to the May 2014 ouster of President Ankvab. After the election of
Raul Khajimba 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 September ...
as president, he participated in the 21 December by-election in Constituency no. 24 that had become necessary after Khajimba had appointed
Adgur Kharazia Adgur Rafet-ipa Kharaziya ( ab, Адгəыр Рафеҭ-иԥа Ҳаразиа; ka, ადგურ ხარაზია), is the current Mayor of Sukhumi and a former Minister of Agriculture and Vice Speaker of the People's Assembly of Abkhazia. ...
as acting mayor of
Sukhumi Sukhumi (russian: Суху́м(и), ) or Sokhumi ( ka, სოხუმი, ), also known by its Abkhaz name Aqwa ( ab, Аҟәа, ''Aqwa''), is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the capital and largest city of ...
. On 3 November, Shamba's nomination by an initiative group was registered. Shamba failed to obtain a first-round victory, but defeated Tengiz Agrba in the run-off on 28 December. On 5 September 2015, Shamba became the leader of a faction he established along with six other members of the People's Assembly. On 27 January 2016, Shamba was elected Chairman of United Abkhazia during its sixth congress, after
Daur Tarba Daur Tarba ( ab, Даур Ҭарба, ka, დაურ თარბა) is the current Minister for Agriculture of Abkhazia. In the past, he has also been Chairman of United Abkhazia at a time when it was the ruling party, Vice Premier and head ...
had resigned the role on 1 October 2015.


See also

*


References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Shamba, Sergei 1951 births Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia Living people People from Gudauta Prime Ministers of Abkhazia Recipients of the Order of Friendship (South Ossetia) Social-Democratic Party of Abkhazia politicians 1st convocation of the People's Assembly of Abkhazia 5th convocation of the People's Assembly of Abkhazia Candidates in the 2004 Abkhazian presidential election Candidates in the 2011 Abkhazian presidential election