page_title: Sergei Bagapsh
section_title: 2004 presidential election
hierarchical_section_title: Sergei Bagapsh / 2004 presidential election
caption_attribution_description: English: THE KREMLIN, MOSCOW. With President of Abkhazia Sergei Bagapsh (on the left) and President of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity.Русский: МОСКВА, КРЕМЛЬ. С Президентом Абхазии Сергеем Багапшем (слева) и Президентом Южной Осетии Эдуардом Кокойты.
context_page_description: Sergei Uasyl-ipa Bagapsh was the second President of the Republic of Abkhazia. He was Prime Minister from 1997 to 1999 and was later elected as President in 2005. He was re-elected in the 2009 presidential election. He died on
  29 May 2011, at the age of 62, from complications of surgery.
context_section_description: From 2000 until 2004, Sergei Bagapsh was the managing director of the Abkhazian state-owned power company Chernomorenergo. During the same period, he began to emerge as a likely opposition candidate in the lead-up to the 2004 presidential election. In early 2004, he became one of three leaders of the newly founded opposition party, United Abkhazia. On 20 July 2004, United Abkhazia joined forces with Amtsakhara, another important opposition party, and the two named him as their joint candidate for the coming October presidential elections, beating out other hopefuls, such as former foreign minister Sergey Shamba. In the elections, Bagapsh and his main opponent, Raul Khadjimba, disputed the results. The Abkhaz Electoral Commission originally declared Khadjimba to be the winner, with Bagapsh a distant second, but the Supreme Court later found that Bagapsh had actually won with 50.3% of the vote. The court then reversed its decision when Khadjimba's supporters stormed the court building. At one point, Bagapsh and his supporters threatened to hold their own inauguration on 6 December 2004. However, in early December, Bagapsh and Khadjimba reached an agreement to run together on a national unity ticket. New elections were held on 12 January 2005, with this ticket easily winning. Under the agreement, Bagapsh ran for president and Khadjimba ran for vice-president.
caption: Sergei Bagapsh (on the left) with Dmitry Medvedev and Eduard Kokoity
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