DECISION OF THE PRESIDIUM OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF ABKHAZIA on election of deputies to the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia on the territory of the Republic of Abkhazia

The State Council has decided to hold the elections of deputies at the Parliament on 11 October 1992.

The regulations adopted by the State Council on elections of the parliament of the Republic of Georgia practically create conditions for election of persons favorable to the ruling regime. According to the rules the candidate is elected if he/she has got majority of votes, but not less than 1/3 of voters participating in the polling. Therefore, the parliament of Georgia may be elected by 11% of electors, without respecting the views of the majority of Georgia’s population.

Twenty days prior elections practically the Republic of Georgia is in a state of civil war. The troops of unlawfully created State Council committed aggressive acts against the sovereign republic of Abkhazia, occupied the considerable part of its territory – the cities: Sukhum, Gagra, Ochamchira, Gal; blocked the cities of Gudauta and Tkuarchal. They perpetrate genocide against Abkhaz people, expel from the territory of Abkhazia thousands of its citizens – Russians, Armenians, Greeks and other non-Georgian nationals; the gross violation of human rights is still in progress. The armed attack resulted in many casualties, first of all among civilians. The direct threat made people flee from the native dwellings.

In the environment of war - when the peaceful population is subjected to shelling from helicopters equipped with missiles and bombs, from tanks, howitzers and from arms of massive destruction, from the systems of volley fire “Grad”, also with ammunitions of volume explosion, missiles with needle-strike elements, when about 100 thousand people were forced to leave the territory of Abkhazia – the statements on holding of democratic and fair elections securing the free expression of people’s will are cynical and deceitful.

Moreover, holding elections in the absence of independent observers and the representatives of international organizations may encourage falsification of results and election fraud, aimed at giving the legitimate shade to the military-fascist regime ruling Georgia currently. Proceeding from the aforementioned and taking into account unregulated state-legal relations between the Republic of Abkhazia and the Republic of Georgia, also the contradictions of the provisions on Elections of the Parliament of Georgia with the Constitution of Abkhazia of 1925, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of Abkhazia decides:

1. To consider having no legal force and not subjected to the implementation on the territory of Georgia the Regulations “on Elections of the Parliament of Georgia” since the date of its enactment.

2. To recognize the unlawful the elections of the deputies of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia in the territory of the Republic of Abkhazia.

3. To call upon the population of the Republic of Abkhazia not to take part in the elections of the parliamentary elections of the Republic of Georgia.

Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Abkhazia V. Ardzinba

Gudauta, 21 September 1992

(Conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Documents 1989-2006 (Supplement to “Kavkazskie Sborniki”, edition #1). Collected and commented by M. A. Volkhonski, B. A. Zakharov, N. Y. Silaev. – Moscow, 2008, p. 154-155/in Russian)