# 2019 Abkhazian presidential election

Presidential elections were held in the partially recognized Republic of Abkhazia in 2019. As no candidate gathered more than 50% of the votes in the first round 25 August, a second was held on 8 September between the top two candidates, incumbent President Raul Khajimba of the Forum for the National Unity of Abkhazia and Alkhas Kvitsinia of Amtsakhara. Khajimba was subsequently re-elected with a margin of less than 2% in the second round. On September 20, the Supreme Court in Abkhazia declared the decision of the Central Election Commission to recognize incumbent Raul Khajimba's victory in the second round of the presidential election as legal.
In January 2020 the Abkhazian Supreme Court annulled the results, following protests against Khajimba. Khajimba resigned the presidency on 12 January, and new elections were called for 22 March.

## Background

The People's Assembly had originally set a date for 21 July. In May 2019, the opposition demanded rescheduling the elections after the main opposition candidate Aslan Bzhania appeared to have been poisoned in Russia. The elections were subsequently postponed to 25 August 2019 under pressure from supporters of the Bzhania.

## Candidates

Registration for candidates officially opened on 26 June 2019. Ten candidate initially registered; but it was later determined that one candidate, Astamur Otirba, had not presented a vice-president in time.
| Presidential candidate | Career | Party | Vice Presidential candidate |
| Shamil Adzinba | Deputy Prime Minister, 2014–2016 | | Rafael Ampar |
| Artur Ankvab | Historian, Lecturer at Abkhazian State University | | Soslan Salakaya |
| Oleg Arshba | Former Deputy Foreign Minister | | Oleg Bartsyts |
| Leonid Dzapshba | Leader of Akzaara, Minister of Internal Affairs, 2010–2016 | Akzaara | Vianor Ashba |
| Almas Japua | Member of Parliament | Independent | Vadim Smyr |
| Astamur Kakalia | Businessman, diplomat | | Astamur Ayba |
| Raul Khajimba | Incumbent President of Abkhazia | FNUA | Aslan Bartsits |
| Alkhas Kvitsinia | Chairman of Amtsakhara | Amtsakhara | Dmitri Dbar |
| Astamur Tarba | Former head of the State Security Service of Abkhazia | | Tamazi Ketsba |

## Bzhaniya’s withdrawal from the election

Opposition leader Aslan Bzhania withdrew from the election on 15 July due to an apparent poisoning.

## Results

| Candidate | Running mate | First round | First round | Second round | Second round |
| Candidate | Running mate | Votes | % | Votes | % |
| Raul Khajimba | Aslan Bartsits | 20,544 | 26.33 | 39,741 | 48.68 |
| Alkhas Kvitsinia | Dmitri Dbar | 18,929 | 24.26 | 38,742 | 47.46 |
| Oleg Arshba | Oleg Bartsyts | 18,665 | 23.92 | | |
| Astamur Tarba | Tamazi Ketsba | 5,695 | 7.30 | | |
| Leonid Dzapshba | Vianor Ashba | 4,935 | 6.33 | | |
| Shamil Adzinba | Rafael Ampar | 3,579 | 4.59 | | |
| Almas Japua | Vadim Smyr | 1,753 | 2.25 | | |
| Artur Ankvab | Soslan Salakaya | 1,403 | 1.80 | | |
| Astamur Kakalia | Astamur Ayba | 841 | 1.08 | | |
| None of the above | None of the above | 1,677 | 2.15 | 3,154 | 3.86 |
| Total | Total | 78,021 | 100.00 | 81,637 | 100.00 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 78,021 | 94.24 | 81,637 | 97.32 |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 4,770 | 5.76 | 2,246 | 2.68 |
| Total votes | Total votes | 82,791 | 100.00 | 83,883 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 129,421 | 63.97 | 127,136 | 65.98 |
| Source: Apsnypress, Apsnypress ||||||

## Aftermath

Following the second round, Alkhas Kvitsinia contested the results in court. After the elections, Khajimba re-appointed Valery Bganba as Prime Minister.
Protests against Khajimba began on 9 January 2020, and on 10 January the Abkhazian Supreme Court annulled the results of the election.