![Raul Khadjimba. Photo by Press Service of the President of the Republic of Abkhazia - [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75199568](/system/uploads/article_image/image/0001/18793/view_1.jpg "Raul Khadjimba. Photo by Press Service of the President of the Republic of Abkhazia - [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75199568")
20 April 2019, 11:22
Journalists assess Raul Khadjimba's chances to win presidential election in Abkhazia
In Abkhazia, potential presidential candidates are not in a hurry to announce their nomination. The incumbent head of state has strong positions, but his victory is not guaranteed; and many voters assess the past five years as years lost for the development of the country, journalists have stated.
On April 4, the Abkhaz parliament appointed the presidential election for July 21. The likely favourites of the election race are the incumbent Raul Khadjimba and the oppositionist, Aslan Bzhaniya.
The President of Abkhazia is elected for five years. One person can be president for no more than two terms in a row.
So far, none of the candidates has published his/her programme, Inal Khashig, the editor-in-chief of the "Chegemskaya Pravda" newspaper, has noted. He is convinced that Khadjimba will nominate himself.
Raul Khadjimba won the early elections on August 24, 2014.
Astamur Tarba, a former chairman of the State Security Service, is an independent candidate. His self-nomination suggests that the society still has some kind of belief that people from the special services can do something constructive for the country, said Khashig.
The election in Abkhazia starts against the background of actions demanding to adopt anti-corruption laws.
Mr Khadjimba will definitely nominate himself, but his victory is not guaranteed, Anton Krivenyuk, a journalist, believes. In his opinion, a part of civil servants and budget-funded employees will vote for the incumbent.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 20, 2019 at 04:05 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Dmitry Stateynov Source: CK correspondent
