Photo: Olesya Vartanyan
Less than a week remains until Ankvab officially receives the status of president, but preparations for changes have already started in government offices in Sukhumi.
Some officials have already reconciled themselves to their fate, understanding that they will be required to leave their offices, so they started collecting their personal belongings without waiting for special instructions.
Before the election, Aleksandr Ankvab promised that reshuffles in the state departments would no longer be carried out in accordance with the principle: "If you were on my side, you remain, if you supported someone else, you depart".
Ankvab pledged to thoroughly overhaul the governance system of Abkhazia and to carry out fundamental changes. Together with everything else, this implies reducing the number of officials.
Ankvab plans to create powerful vertical power, hoping to carry out quick and effective reforms in Abkhazia.
It is these radical changes that tens of thousands of electors, who supported Ankvab in the election, expect from him. Most of his voters are the people, who are old enough to have lived in the Soviet era. They survived the war, followed by years of unrest, corruption, and impunity. These people would like to revert to years of carefree stability. Ankvab proved to be the only candidate who managed to convince these people that he would be able to have former order re-established in Abkhazia.
Waiting 25 Years for Victory
Ankvab has been advancing to the position of Abkhaz leader for 25 years. He spent almost a decade in Tbilisi in the 1980s, holding a ruling position in the Central Committee of the Communist Party. In 1984 he became Georgia’s Deputy Minister of Interior.
His former fellow-workers in Tbilisi recall that in those years, the ruling elite in Tbilisi considered Ankvab as future Head of the Abkhaz Central Committee or Interior Minister in Sukhumi. However, Ankvab was not appointed to any of the positions.
Ankvab's former boss and former Interior Minister Shota Gorgodze recalled that initially the leadership was against appointing Ankvab because of his young age. Later, political arguments were added to this reason.
In March 1989 Zviad Gamsakhurdia's supporters were holding one of their rallies in Bukia Garden in Tbilisi. Ankvab and several other Deputy Ministers of Interior came to the rally to supervise how police dealt with the protesters. One of the participants noticed Ankvab.
"When they saw Ankvab, they expressed dissatisfaction: 'Look, this Abkhaz hinders us from being free,'" Shota Gorgodze recalls.
After this, "Zviadists" (Gamsakhurdia’s supporters) put Ankvab's name on their "black list". Therefore, his possible transfer to the Abkhaz leadership was automatically hindered.
After the rally of April 9, 1989 was forcefully dispersed, Ankvab resigned. Before leaving Tbilisi, he visited Gorgodze to say goodbye to him:
"I will never forget our last meeting and what Ankvab said. He told me: 'You will come to me. You will definitely come, but it will be too late…' That has proved to be true. We were indeed late. It is too late now…"
When I met Ankvab in August, I reminded him of this episode. We were sitting at a table in his election headquarters. He slowly poured newly brewed tea into large glasses.
"Already 20 years ago I have realized that Georgians had chosen an incorrect path," Ankvab answered smiling, "they still have not realized that their policy is incorrect".
Ankvab always speaks calmly and slowly. Even when he addresses a crowd, his speech is always in half tone, forcing people around him to listen carefully to every word he says.
No one in Sukhumi doubts that Ankvab would have become Abkhaz leader much earlier, had he not had a conflict with Vladislav Ardzinba.
During the last months of the Georgian-Abkhaz war Ankvab held the post of Interior Minister in Ardzinba's government. Major disagreements frequently occurred among them. A close friend of Ankvab recalls that Ardzinba has tried to execute Ankvab twice, but released him at the last moment; however no one in Ankvab's entourage confirms this information. It is not surprising as it would be disadvantageous for them to recall the details of disagreements with Ardzinba, a cult person in Abkhazia, in pre-election period.
In the early 1990s Ankvab moved to Moscow, where he remained for almost 10 years. He failed to become nominated in the first presidential elections in the de facto Abkhaz republic due to the five-year residential qualification for presidential candidates according to the Abkhaz legislation.
Ankvab then supported Sergey Bagapsh. He recalls now that they failed to implement a lot of ideas they jointly designed six years ago. According to Ankvab, one of the reasons was the agreement reached with Raul Khajimba, signed by Bagapsh to avert military clashes in Sukhumi in December 2004.
"Who said that it is good to have a coalition government?”, asked Ankvab last month, four days prior to elections, "Open the history books and you will find a lot of examples to show that coalition governments have proved to be a bad choice. Such a decision is very shaky and unserious".
There are people in Ankvab's close entourage who were dissatisfied with Bagapsh's rule. Last several years his governance was based on the principle – "We should not offend anyone". According to assessments by Ankvab's team, this made it impossible to carry out real changes in Abkhazia.
Unexpected Elections
Already last year two camps of rivals took shape within the Abkhaz government. Sergey Shamba and Aleksandr Ankvab did not conceal their wish to run in the presidential race in the de facto republic in 2014. However, no one has expected the fight for the presidential chair three years earlier.
Both candidates proved to be unprepared for the unexpected development. They did not have sufficient finances, action programmes, and the supporting teams they planned to bring to power together with them. They had to do everything in a rush.
People in Sukhumi were sure that none of the main candidates would renounce their participation in the elections. According to the constitution, Abkhaz president should not be older than 65; Ankvab is turning 59 this year, Shamba is one year older. Both candidates have realized that this was the last chance for them to become a president.
"Do you know how I explained to Putin my decision to run for presidency? I told him: 'I want to work so that in five years I will be able to leave knowing that my country is in reliable hands. During these five years I want to bring to power such an elite that will be capable of coping with complicated tasks, so that my grandchildren won’t be embarrassed when people look at them,'" Shamba said, addressing youth assembled in one of the schools in Gagra.
Shamba's election campaign was based on promises, which many in Sukhumi described as "populist". He pledged to increase pensions, revive the economy in the shortest possible time, and build modern cities for people living in Abkhazia's rural areas. Many were inspired by the plan for building a new modern airport, which would be connected to Sukhumi by trains moving through a glass tunnel suspended in the air. In conditions where homes in Sukhumi continue to bear traces of war that took place 18 years ago, many regarded this project described by Shamba as unrealistic.
The most serious mistake Shamba made ahead of the elections was to publicly show an interview by Tengiz Kitovani. Two weeks before the elections, Shamba's supporters gathered about 800 people - mostly participants in the Georgian-Abkhaz war - in the centre of Sukhumi. In the interview Kitovani said that during the first months of the war Ankvab worked for the Georgian special services. The video clip was accompanied by speeches by war veterans, who referred to Ankvab in an insulting manner. Everyone dispersed in the evening. Shamba's supporters had no doubt that this event would put an end to Ankvab's popularity. However, events unfolded the other way round.
Everyone was discussing Shamba's PR action in Sukhumi on the following day.
"That was insulting for me. Our enemy was shown on a big screen in the centre of our capital. He was in our capital yesterday. I could not have imagined even in a nightmare that my compatriots could do this”, said one of the war-veterans.
Those who were against showing the Kitovani interview have left Shamba's headquarters the next days. The most respected part of Abkhaz society, the members of the first convocation of the Parliament of 1990, has supported Ankvab. By the election’s day it has become more or less clear to everyone that Ankvab would win without any problems.
August 26 - A Step Towards Clashes
Till today Abkhazia does not have an Election Code and local voters’ lists compiled back in 2004 still remain unchanged. All that could give a ground for accusing the winner in the election rigging. No one doubted that this would be Shamba's trump card on Election Day. I was at Ankvab's headquarters when counting started at all election precincts in Abkhazia. Reports from all villages stated that Ankvab was winning by a large margin while Shamba was only the third.
"We have information that Shamba's armed people are at several precincts in various districts. They are waiting for an order to organize a provocation. If they do so, we will give them a lesson", one of Ankvab's entourages told me in a low voice.
The distance between the headquarters of two main rivals was just 300 metres. At night the rumours spread in Sukhumi that young people were assembling outside Shamba's headquarters. I went to Shamba's headquarters to see what was happening.
"We lost. That is the end. We admit our defeat”, the head of Shamba's headquarters was saying. Very few young people could be seen around him. Rumours about Shamba's numerous supporters proved to be a lie.
"Who could have thought that he would win by such a margin? That is unimaginable!", Shamba's supporters, who had come to support Shamba in the minutes of his full fiasco, said with indignation.
At the same time, hundreds of people had gathered outside Ankvab's headquarters to congratulate him on the victory.
"That's it. We will start working tomorrow", Ankvab told the people assembled outside the headquarters in this night of long-awaited triumph. Everyone laughed as they thought that Ankvab was joking. In the meantime, the new Abkhaz leader did not even smile. He just crossed his hands across his chest, waited for silence and said: "We have always behaved in a worthy manner. We have worked well and assessed well our potential. We will continue to act in the same manner".
Gali
Gali District is the only place in Abkhazia where people are well aware of what is going on in Tbilisi. I went there together with my colleagues from Moscow. It took my local driver, ethnic Georgian, Levan, quite some time to believe that I had come from Tbilisi. He spoke non-stop for several hours about everything that takes place on the other side of the administrative border.
"If you go that way, life begins in just a few kilometres. This is what I call life", Levan told me, "Misha has built a new resort there - Anaklia. When you see it, you will be stunned".
"There are no such roads in Georgia any longer", Levan said, skilfully bypassing holes in the main road that connects Gali with Georgian villages, "All roads have been repaired in Georgia. They do not live there like we do here".
It took us more than half an hour to cover just seven kilometres. We did not encounter a single car on the road. Locals take care of their cars. They are now using bicycles as transport.
A tree in the centre of Zemo Barghebi village plays the role of a parking place. Six Soviet-era bicycles are parked here. Their owners are sitting nearby. All of them are aged people. Only elderly people and men over 40 remain in the village. Almost all of them sent their children to Tbilisi.
"My son is here now. He arrived for his summer vacations", a grey-haired old man of 67 says. "Please do not tell anyone. I am afraid they can arrest him. We brought him across, along a bypass road".
Crossing the administrative border was the main issue of concern expressed by the locals. They can cross to Zugdidi only via the Enguri Bridge and with a special pass. To get the pass, you have to stand in a long line in Gali administration.
However, not all of the locals observe the formalities. Some of them do not have sufficient money to frequently go to Gali and then cross the Enguri Bridge. Most of them prefer using bypass roads.
Before Russian border guards started monitoring the administrative border of Abkhazia, there were at least six bypass roads leading to Zugdidi. Russian border guards have been stationed there since last year. Local people have to pay several thousand roubles as fines if they cross the border at a "wrong place".
The opening of new border checkpoints was one of the most popular promises in August. All three presidential candidates pledged to do all they could if elected to open the border for residents of Gali District.
Bezhan Ubiria is the single ethnic Georgian member of the Sukhumi parliament. He said that additional border checkpoints are to be opened next year.
"The agreement has already been reached with the Russian side. Before that happens, it is necessary to prepare and equip everything. The border is not so short - 84 kilometres. You cannot do everything in a short time", Ubiria said.
He also said that since Russian border guards appeared in the district, local people have felt much safer.
"People used to hide in their homes when they heard the noise of engines", the headmaster of the Georgian school in Zemo Barghebi, Koba Rigvava, recalled. "There are no such fears now".
According to local agencies, 10,000 of 40,000 residents of Gali District have Abkhaz passports. Bezhan Ubiria said that no one is forced to take a passport. "The state is simply becoming stronger. You need to have a passport to receive any document on a car, land or anything else".
Ubiria argues that the local government does not force Georgians to take passports. "We realize well that they will cross to Zugdidi and take a new Georgian passport for 17 lari".
Relations with Russia
One of the important issues which Ankvab has to approach carefully is the relations with Russia.
Abkhaz politicians claim that they are connected to Russia not only be strategic partnership but also by close co-operation.
However, it is not difficult to notice that in reality there are serious misunderstandings between Moscow and Sukhumi.
Not a single serious Russian company has invested in Sukhumi over the past year. As one Russian diplomat anonymously said, the official Sukhumi does not allow Russian businessmen to make real investments in Abkhazia. He recalled one case, when a large Russian tourist company proposed to implement a long-term project near Ritsa Lake.
"The answer was negative. The Abkhaz refused again to hand over at least some facilities to our company. The proposal implied the rehabilitation of the facilities", the Russian diplomat said.
Selling the Abkhaz land to foreign investors has long been a cause for heated debates in Sukhumi. Many in Abkhaz society believe that such deals are not acceptable at all.
That is the reason Russian investors are not rushing to invest in Abkhazia. They are not guaranteed that one day they won’t be deprived of their businesses.
"They want Russia to come, build everything here, invest money and then leave silently and without any claims, without even receiving any income… Such things simply do not happen", the Russian diplomat said. "If things continue as they are, Abkhazia will continue to be 'small old Rome', where no one will invest any money".
The new president of the de facto republic, Aleksandr Ankvab, does not intend to change the years-long practice either. He said that selling land is an issue that will never be considered. As for the property rights, Ankvab is ready to cooperate, but only on conditions advantageous for Abkhazia.
Ankvab intends to fully switch his efforts to agriculture, mostly relying on Russian financial aid in this initiative. This aid has already been approved for a period until the end of 2012, but according to local observers, the Russian money allocated for Sukhumi will only be sufficient to rehabilitate a number of roads and house roofs. Correspondingly, there can be no talk about Abkhazia's agriculture, which has become fully degraded over the past 20 years.
So far no one is able to forecast to what extent Russian financial aid may increase after 2012 in order to enable Ankvab to implement a long-term plan for the revival of the Abkhaz economy. The third de facto president of Abkhazia will find it very difficult to carry out significant changes without Russian money.
The terminology used in the article belongs to the author and not “Liberali”.
The article is prepared with support of Heinrich Boell Foundation. The publication statements and ideas do not necessarily express the Heinrich Boell Foundation opinion.