In the Gulripsh District, 22 candidates competed in 16 constituencies. The Upper Kodori Valley participated for the first time in local Abkhazian elections --- the area had been under Georgian control until it was conquered during the August 2008 War. Since most of the remaining Svan population does not possess Abkhazian citizenship, there were only 51 eligible voters, 39 of whom actually voted at the polling station in the secondary school of Azhara. The new Assembly met for the first time on 15 February, when it elected Aslan Baratelia its chairman, Andronik Kondakchyan its deputy chairman and David Gabnya its secretary.