After months of observing and analyzing the pre-election campaign, Georgia is still waiting to see who the next de facto president of separatist Abkhazia will be. Since the October 3 election, denounced as illegitimate both by the Georgian government and international organizations, the two leading candidates have wrestled over the results and tension in the region has visibly increased. Today Georgia faces uncertainty not only regarding the two candidates Khadjimba and Baghapshi, but also Moscow, where government officials are recalculating their strategy in an election they had strongly tilted in favor of the current loser Khadjimba.
| Back to the old drawing board! |
Both Georgian and Russian media outlets acknowledge that situation did not transpire as Moscow had planned. Official Moscow tapped Khadjimba to win, sending influential Russian figures to campaign for the former prime minister. Even President Vladimir Putin supported him with a photo op and talk of support . But Moscow underscored Khadjimba's pro-Moscow line to such an extent that they in fact disenchanted zealous pro-independence Abkhaz voters who instead voted for Sergei Baghapshi.
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