MOSCOW (Reuters) – Protesters in Georgia’s Russia-backed breakaway region of Abkhazia refused on Saturday to leave the parliament building they stormed the previous day, a departure proposed by the region’s president as a condition for resigning.
Protesters had occupied parliament to protest an investment deal with Moscow.
Russia’s RIA news agency reported that President Aslan Bzhania had said on Saturday that he would resign and hold early elections once protesters left parliament in Sukhumi, Abkhazia’s capital, and proposed a vice president as interim head of state.
“When they leave the building I will write my resignation letter and in the new elections we will see how much support they will receive,” Bzhania said according to RIA.
He said he planned to run in those elections.
Protesters said in a statement that the occupation did not go against Abkhazia’s close ties with Russia, but accused Bzhania of “trying to use these relations for his own selfish interests (and) manipulate them in order to strengthen his regime.”
Moscow said on Friday it was monitoring the “crisis situation” with concern and urged Russian citizens to avoid traveling to Abkhazia.
Russia recognized Abkhazia and another breakaway region, South Ossetia, as independent states in 2008 after defeating Georgia in a five-day war. It maintains military bases in both regions and shores up their economies.
Most of the world recognizes Abkhazia as part of Georgia, which it split from during the wars of the early 1990s.