A referendum on holding early presidential elections was 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 10 July 2016.Abkhazia to Hold Referendum on Snap Presidential Election
Civil, 2 June 2016 The referendum was declared invalid due to low turnout (1.23%), after both sides decided to boycott it.

Background

A petition calling for a referendum was started by an initiative group in March 2016,
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 30 June 2016 who were required to obtain 10,000 signatures. On 22 April, the initiative group handed over the petition to the Central Election Commission with 19,314 signatures, stating that it had collected 21,226 signatures but had omitted those that were invalid because the information of the signatory was incomplete. The referendum was approved by a decree signed by President Raul Khajimba on 1 June. On 28 June, CEC Chairman

Batal Tabagua Batal Tabagua ( ab, Баҭал Табаҕәуа, ka, ბატალ ტაბაღუა) is the Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Abkhazia. He was appointed to the Central Election Commission December 11, 2004 by o ...

announced that there would be no polling stations outside Abkhazia.

Interior Ministry crisis

In the run-up to the referendum, Interior Minister Leonid Dzapshba gave a speech to officials at the Ministry that angered opposition activists, who claimed Dzapshba had pressured the officials not to participate in the referendum and threatened them with dismissal. On 20 June, three of Dzapshba's predecessors as Interior Minister, Abesalom Beia, Otar Khetsia and Raul Lolua, called upon President Khajimba to dismiss him. On 5 July, some opposition activists stormed the Ministry and demanded i.a. Dzapshba's resignation. As a concession to the protestors, Khajimba suspended Dzapshba for the duration of an investigation into the matter by the Prosecutor General.

Results

The referendum was declared invalid due to low turnout (1.23%) as it was boycotted by both the government and the opposition. Of those who voted, a majority was against holding an early election.Expert: Abkhazia referendum outcome - victory of incumbent president
TASS, 11 July 2016

References

{{Abkhazian elections Abkhazian early presidential elections referendum Early presidential elections referendum

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Abkhazian early presidential elections referendum