Black Sea region to vote

2004-05-06 09:43

Batumi, Georgia - Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, visiting the Black Sea coastal province of Adjara only hours after a rebellious local leader fled to Moscow, said on Thursday that new elections would be held in the region.

Speaking on Adjaran television from the province's capital of Batumi, Zhvania also said that the central Georgian government in Tbilisi would respect the region's autonomous status.

He said a special state commission was to be set up to appoint interim local leaders and to "make preparations for fresh elections to the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara and other elected bodies in the near future."

"At this time of celebration, I would like to reaffirm, on behalf of the president of Georgia and the government of Georgia, our respect for Ajaria's autonomous status," the premier said, referring to President Mikhail Saakashvili.

No threat

"There is no threat to Adjara's autonomous status and there will be no such threat in the future. The new elections will be held with due account taken of Adjara's special status, which will now be finally clarified by a special constitutional law," he added.

Both Zhvania and President Saakashvili flew into Adjara from Tbilisi early on Thursday after Adjaran leader Aslan Abashidze fled into exile in Moscow.

Abashidze had caused a crisis by seeking to cut Adjara's communication links, and notably destroying river bridges, with the rest of Georgia.

- AFP