Abkhazia set to elect new president

The former Georgian republic of Abkhazia will go to the polls to elect a new president on Friday, following the death of President Sergei Bagapsh in May. Over 140,000 voters will choose between three candidates - acting president Alexander Ankvab, Prime Minister Sergei Shamba and chairman of a prominent oppositional political party, The Forum of the National Unity of Abkhazia, Raul Khajimba. Experts believe that Ankvab and Shamba have equal chances to either win the presidential race in the first round or go to the second round if they do not receive over 50 percent of the votes necessary to win in the first. The preliminary results of the Friday vote could be announces as early as on August 28. The second round, if necessary, will be held in two weeks. Over 100 observers from 18 countries and the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization will attend the elections despite the fact that the breakaway republic has been recognized only by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and the tiny Pacific island nations of Nauru and Vanuatu. Abkhazia and another Georgian breakaway republic, South Ossetia, were recognized by Russia as independent states in 2008 following a five-day war, which started when Georgia attacked South Ossetia in an attempt to bring it back under central control. Georgia, which still considers the two regions part of its sovereign territory, has repeatedly stated that any elections in Abkhazia or South Ossetia would be illegitimate and would never be recognized by the international community.