Sergei Bagapsh

Sergei Uasyl-Ipa Bagapsh Сергеи Уасыл-иҧа Багаҧшь Сергей Багапш
File:Sergei Bagapsh.jpg
2nd President of Abkhazia
Incumbent
Assumed office February 12, 2005
Vice President	Raul Нadjimba
Preceded by	Vladislav Ardzinba
4th Prime Minister of Abkhazia
In office April 29, 1997 – December, 1999
President	Vladislav Ardzinba
Preceded by	Gennady Gagulia
Succeeded by	Vyacheslav Tsugba
Personal details
Born	(1949-03-04) March 4, 1949 Sukhumi, Abkhazian ASSR, Georgian SSR, USSR
Nationality	Abkhaz
Political party	United Abkhazia
Spouse	Marina Shonia
Signature

Sergei Uasyl-ipa Bagapsh (Abkhaz: Сергеи Уасыл-иҧа Багаҧшь) (born March 4, 1949, Sukhumi) is the President of the unrecognized de facto independent Republic of Abkhazia, which is recognized internationally as de jure part of Georgia. A former Prime Minister from 1997 to 1999, he was elected as President in 2005.

Early life and career

Sergei Bagapsh was born March 4 1949 in Sukhumi. Throughout most of his life he has lived in Abkhazia. Bagapsh graduated from the Georgian State University of Subtropical Agriculture in Sukhumi. During his studies he worked first in a wine cooperative and later as a security guard for the state bank. In 1972 he fulfilled his military service as the head of a sovkhoz following which he became instructor with the Abkhazian regional committee of the Komsomol. In 1978 Bagapsh became responsible for information in the central committe of the Komsomol's Georgian branch and in 1980 first secretary of the Abkhazian regional committee. In 1982 Sergei Bagapsh became secretary general of the communist party in the Ochamchira district. After the fall of communism, Bagapsh became a businessman and the representative of the Abkhazian government in Moscow.

Prime minister

Sergei Bagapsh was appointed Prime Minister of Abkhazia on April 29th of 1997. At the time Abkhazia's president Vladislav Ardzinba was still able to govern effectively, so Bagapsh had much less power than some of his successors. Former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze once claimed that Bagapsh never passed any resolution without Ardzinba.

The Georgian-Abkhaz tensions during Bagapsh's time in office came to a height in May, 1998, when the Tbilisi-based government-in-exile deployed forces along the Abkhaz-Georgian border. In the resulting conflict, which was colloquially named the "Six Day War", 30,000 Georgian refugees fled across the border to the town of Zugdidi. 1,695 Georgian houses were also burned down.

2004 presidential election

Main article: Abkhazian presidential election, 2004

Sergei Bagapsh was Minister of Energy when he began to emerge as a likely opposition candidate in the leadup to the 2004 presidential election. In early 2004, he became of three leaders of the newly founded opposition movement United Abkhazia. After on July 20, 2004, United Abkhazia joined forces with Amtsakhara, another important opposition force, the two named him as their joint candidate for the October presidential elections, beating out other hopefuls, such as former foreign minister Sergey Shamba. In the elections, Bagapsh and his main opponent, Raul Khadjimba, disputed the results. The Abkhaz Electoral Commission originally declared Khadjimba to be the winner, with Bagapsh a distant second, but the Supreme Court later found that Bagapsh had won with 50.3% of the vote. The court reversed its decision after Khadjimba's supporters stormed the court building. At one point, Bagapsh and his supporters threatened to hold their own inauguration on December 6, 2004. However, in early December, Bagapsh and Khadjimba reached an agreement to run together on a national unity ticket. New elections were held on January 12, 2005, with this ticket easily winning. Under the agreement, Bagapsh ran for president and Khadjimba ran for vice-president.

External links

• President of the Republic of Abkhazia. Official site