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EURASIA Politics and Poison in Abkhazia

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EURASIA Politics and Poison in Abkhazia EURASIA Politics and Poison in Abkhazia OE Watch Commentary: Political intrigue has been on full display in Abkhazia since the possible poisoning of the leading opposition presidential candidate Aslan Bzhaniya, who fell deathly ill in mid April. The timing of his sudden illness led to mass demonstrations in the Abkhaz capital of Sukhumi and calls to postpone the election until late the fall to give Bzhaniya time to recover. At first, current president Raul Khajimba refused to move the elections from their scheduled July date. However, days later, after negotiations with the opposition, and a vote by parliament to make it so, it was decided that elections would be delayed and take place in August, but not in November, as the opposition initially requested. While Bzhaniya’s illness and the state of politics in Abkhazia were well covered across various Abkhaz news sources, and received mention in the Russian press, a recent commentary in Abkhazinform.com has put forward Georgia, Ossetia, Russia and Abkhazia. some interesting observations. Source: Ssolbergj & creator of source map via Wikimedia, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Georgia,_Ossetia,_Russia_and_ Abkhazia_(en).svg, CC BY-SA 3.0 Since Abkhazia’s independence from Georgia in 1993, it was easy for Abkhazians to see Georgia’s hand in all of its domestic and political troubles. (At the same time Georgians commonly accused Russia of political intrigue in Abkhazia.) According to Abkhazinform.com, those past perceptions have largely changed thanks to the 2008 Russian military invasion into Georgia, which has resulted in Abkhazians feeling more secure about their place vis a vis Georgia. In addition, the original war for separation in 1992-1993 is a distant memory for many and a matter of national history for many younger Abkhaz who never experienced the war or knew life as part of the Georgian Republic. It is against this backdrop that the current intrigue over the possible poisoning of the lead opposition candidate demonstrates that Abkhazia is its own wild wild west when it comes to domestic politics. Bzhaniya’s illness or poisoning, the demonstrations, and the delayed election, are seen, at least by Abkhazinform.com, as a true domestic political crisis—no outside bogey-man required. Aslan Bzhaniya is seen as a real political threat to current president Khajimba. It will be interesting to see if Khajimba is found complicit in Bzhaniya falling ill. The article also points out that Abkhazia is still searching for an identity other than being “someone’s “health resort and breadbasket” and territory with an “advantageous geographical position.” The article makes the point that while a Georgian military attempt to retake Abkhazia is really not even considered anymore, Abkhazia is still searching for its own independent identity outside of being a Russian beach resort or a nation on the brink of a new war with Georgia. The article also makes the point that in the past, every government in Abkhazia has been accused by the opposition of willingly conceding to Moscow, but that when the opposition has come to power it makes the same concessions to Russia as the previous administration, fueling another round of opposition. There is no doubt that Abkhazia is politically and militarily tied to Russia but it doesn’t mean that the tiny nation doesn’t have aspirations of its own, and the direction of the country is considered at stake. It is also worth remembering that the Abkhaz are a Muslim people, albeit a very Soviet Muslim society, and that Russia’s most wanted in Chechnya for over a decade before he was killed was Shamil Basaev. Prior to that Basaev was also awarded the Hero of Abkhazia medal and was given much credit—by the Abkhaz—for winning the war against Georgia. Basaev also took an Abkhaz wife. Two years later when Russia and Chechnya went to war it was prudent for Abkhazia to revise its history, writing out the contributions that Basaev and other Chechens made to Abkhaz independence. It is too easy to think of Abkhazia as a puppet state controlled by Moscow but as the article points out, the reality on-the-ground in Abkhazia is different, and the drama around the pending presidential Aslan Bzhania. Source: Leonrid via Wikimedia, https://commons. elections reflects that.End OE Watch Commentary (Billingsley) wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aslan_Bzhaniya.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0 “Mass protests, after which a compromise was reached on the date of the postponed election, promoted the idea that the current government benefits from the situation, pushing the theory of the “Georgian trace” aside” Source: “«ДИАЛЕКТИКА ПО-СУХУМСКИ». КТО СТАНЕТ НОВЫМ ПРЕЗИДЕНТОМ АБХАЗИИ? (Analyzing Sukhumski” Who Will Become President of Abkhazia?),” Abkhazinform.com, 10 June 2019. http://abkhazinform.com/tochka-zreniya/item/8923-dialektika-po- sukhumski-kto-stanet-novym-prezidentom-abkhazii Entering into a confrontation with Georgia in the early 1990s, the Abkhaz elite tried to defend the right to their own state. One can argue about whether it is prosperous, prospective, independent or dependent on Russia, its military-political guarantees and socio-economic support. But even 25 and 10 years ago, an application was made for the formation of a new Abkhazia, and not just someone’s “health resort and breadbasket” and territory with an “advantageous geographical position”. Years have passed, but even today there are many signs that the transition to a post-conflict agenda, filled with content that is fundamentally different from the first years of the struggle for independence, has not been completed. The question of the quality of management of “our state”, that is, for what, in fact, the Abkhaz society struggled, remains unresolved. OE Watch | July 2019 20.
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