Participants of the ongoing protest in Sukhumi breached the courtyard of the so-called Parliament building. Video footage circulating on social media shows them breaking through the iron fence with a truck. Prior to this, so-called smoke bombs were thrown from the Parliament grounds toward the rally.
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The Abkhaz opposition and their supporters are against the Russia-Abkhazia investment agreement. The de facto Parliament was scheduled to discuss the ratification of the document today. However, military equipment and hundreds of "law enforcement officers" were mobilized against the citizens who arrived at the building with Abkhazian and Russian flags, but the session was still not held.
According to the media, 21 so-called deputies attended the session. Thirteen of them supported canceling the meeting and postponing the discussion of the agreement, four were against it, and three abstained. The de facto chairman of the parliament, Lasha Ashuba, stated that the deputies were not ready to work in such a tense environment.
Before the protest began, one of the leaders of the so-called opposition, Adgur Ardzinba, called on the authorities of the self-proclaimed republic to postpone the discussion of all "hot issues" that "divide people and upset society" until the upcoming so-called presidential elections.
"If the government does not agree to this, the entire responsibility for the possible consequences in the coming days will rest solely with the President of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, and his entourage," Ardzinba said in a statement.
The Minister of Economic Development of Russia, Maxim Reshetnikov, and the de facto Vice Prime Minister of Abkhazia and Minister of Economy, Kristina Ozgan, signed the agreement on October 30 in Moscow. If implemented, Russian companies will be able to acquire ownership rights to land in Abkhazia. The agreement offers various support measures for foreign investors, including multi-year tax incentives. The de facto government claims that the investments are crucial for the economic stability of Abkhazia, while opponents argue that the document is anti-national and will only benefit oligarchs.
