Opposition Accuses Abashidze of Mounting Tensions in Adjara

The opposition movement Our Adjara accused today Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze of escalating tensions in the Autonomous Republic in order to disrupt the March 28 parliamentary elections in the region.

“[Abashidze’s] Revival Union party has no chance to clear 7% threshold [necessary to secure seats in the Parliament] in these elections, that is why he tries to foil voting in Adjara,” Koba Khabazi of Our Adjara movement told the press conference today.

Representative of the Autonomous Republic to Tbilisi Hamlet Tchipashvili dismissed opposition’s accusations as groundless and said today that elections will be held in Adjara. “And Revival party will participate in the elections,” he added.

One of the leaders of the NDP-Traditionalists election bloc Gubaz Sanikidze, who is the opposition to the Georgian government, also said today that tensions are mounting in Adjara on the eve of elections. However, he accused the central authorities in aggravation of situation in the Autonomous Republic.