Journalists predict low voter turnout at second round of elections in Abkhazia

The voting at the second round of parliamentary elections in Abkhazia, scheduled for March 26, will have low turnout, the Abkhaz journalists Anton Krivenyuk and Ibragim Chkadua believe. There is no mandatory turnout threshold in the second round; so, it will not affect the outcome of the elections, the chairman of the CEC of Abkhazia has noted.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 12, residents of Abkhazia elected 35 MPs out of 137 candidates. Elections were recognized as valid at all 35 constituencies.

According to Anton Krivenyuk, the turnout will be lower at the second round than at the first one.

Ibragim Chkadua believes that the level of the agitation campaign has dropped significantly. He believes that the turnout at the second round will be low, since many voters whose candidates have not pass through will not vote.

He treated the absence of major violations as a positive point of the elections. On the negative side, in his opinion, "was a low level of television debates," as well as a large number of unknown candidates.

He has added that few of the candidates, in their pre-election race "used important issues for Abkhazia related to the sale of real estate, church split, and so on."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.