Voices of South Caucasus

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.

The Abkhaz presidential candidates have signed a memorandum for "fair elections" and pledged to play according to the rules in order to prevent a situation like that in 2004 from taking shape again. The election struggle is already under way at a full pace. Several dozens of influential people have already pledged to support one of the candidates - Sergey Shamba. Everything was fair. There was no black PR at this meeting.

A presidential election is to be held in South Ossetia in November, but the names of the politicians, who will compete for the presidential post, are still unclear.

Moscow will have to choose not only a new tactic, but also a fundamentally new approach regarding the presidential election in Abkhazia.

Last week, Abkhazia gave the last honours to its president. Sergey Bagapsh died in Moscow on 29th of May after he underwent a complicated lung surgery. Tens of thousands of people attended the mourning ceremony on 2nd of June, including Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The second Abkhaz president was buried in his ancestral village of Jgerda in Ochamchire District.

For two years and a half, the Sailor company was a kind of office of the de facto governments in Washington. The staff of the company attended all discussions on Georgian conflicts held at analytical centers, held meetings at the Department of State and Senate, and talked to the US media.

Sukhumi was very active in April. President Bagapsh visited Turkey. Israeli businessmen close to the Israeli government visited Sukhumi. Before that, a representative German delegation, which included even ministers of some German lands, arrived in Abkhazia. Some experts said after the visits that Sukhumi had started cutting a window to another, non-Russian world.

After the media reported that hegumen Yefrem (Vinogradov), who had been dispatched from the Moscow Patriarchate, was appointed father superior in Akhali Atoni Monastery, the square outside the monastery became filled with people.

President Sergey Bagapsh may find himself facing a most complicated test in his political career. The dramatic events that accompanied Bagapsh's coming to power in 2004 seem insignificant compared with it.

On the heels of Abkhazia’s Feb. 12 local elections, evaluating the strength and allegiance of the Abkhaz political opposition remains difficult.