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Abkhazia Opposition Vests Power in 'Interim Council'

RIA Novosti

11:49 30/05/2014

MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) – The Abkhazian opposition has unilaterally vested the highest executive power in the country in its so-called "interim council of people's trust," the state-run Abkhaz news agency has reported.

The new caretaker government is comprised of predominantly opposition Coordination Council members and several lawmakers who are to coordinate their every step with the parliament.

On Thursday, the Abkhaz parliament passed a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Leonid Lakerbaia and urged President Alexander Ankvab to step down. The opposition hastily created an interim council that has taken temporary leadership over the country.

The opposition said a caretaker government was to be established in two-days' time. It will run the country until a new president is elected in three months in case Ankvab agrees to resign.

According to the Abkhaz news agency, the opposition announced its decision to set up an interim council at a rally that voted on each of the council's 21 members.

The council includes almost every opposition party chief that last year built a unity bloc called the "Coordination Council": Raul Hajimba and Daur Arshba from the Forum of National Unity, Beslan Butba from the party of Economic Development, Daur Tarba from United Abkhazia, Iakub Lakoba from the People's Party of Abkhazia, lawmaker Akhra Bjania from the social movement Akhatsa, Daur Achugba and Vitaly Gabnia from a war veterans union Aruaa, Vitaly Bigvava from the social movement Abaash, Alyas Avidzba from the Young Abkhazia patriotic movement, Leonid Dzapshba from a civic union called "For the Legality Stability and Democracy," and Sergei Pigar from the Coordination Council of Russian Compatriots in Abkhazia.

The council is chaired by Raul Hajimba, who formerly served as Abkhazia's Vice President and Prime Minister. On Thursday, Hajimba spoke before a crowd of supporters rallying in the Abkhaz capital city Sukhumi, calling on protesters to act only on the the opposition's command and cautioning them against attempts to storm government buildings.

Events threatened to spiral out of control on Thursday in Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia, which declared independence following a referendum in 1999. At the rally in Sukhumi, opposition activists claimed they were in control of the republic and urged government reforms in the country.

On Tuesday, crowds of protesters seized administrative buildings in Sukhumi, following an outbreak of mass rallies against policies carried out by the country's leadership. The Abkhaz leader called the events unfolding in the country an attempted military coup.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday that Moscow is concerned by the political tensions in Abkhazia and believes the crisis should be resolved through legal means. The same day, a Russian delegation headed by Vladimir Putin's aide Vladislav Surkov arrived in Abkhazia to facilitate the negotiation process.