16:26, 25 March 2004

Abkhazia and South Osetia will not take part in Georgian parliamentary elections

On March 24, the parliament of the unrecognized republic of South Osetia passed a resolution on the illegitimacy of the holding of the 28 March elections for the Georgian parliament on the territory of South Osetia.

"Tbilisi plans to open a number of polling stations in the places where the Georgian population compactly reside. This is illegal," chairman of the South Osetian parliament Stanislav Kochiyev said to Interfax via phone.

"South Osetia refrains from forcibly preventing the opening of the polling stations by the Georgian side, therefore the decision was made to declare the elections to be illegitimate on the official level," Mr Kochiyev said.

Head of the foreign ministry of the self-proclaimed Abkhazia Sergey Shamba told Interfax via phone the republican authorities had called upon the Georgian population of the Gali district not to try to vote in the contiguous districts of western Georgia on Election Day. "Those who live on the territory of the Gali district should recognize the jurisdiction of the Abkhazian authorities," the minister said.

Editors note: See also the article "Extraordinary parliamentary elections to be held in Georgia on March 28".

Source: Interfax News Agency