Two Candidates Run for Abkhaz Presidency

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of breakaway Abkhazia registered Sergey Bagapsh and Iakub Lakoba as the two candidates for repeat presidential elections in the Region, scheduled for January 12, Interfax news agency reported.

Iakub Lakoba is the leader of the People?s Party of Abkhazia. He also ran in the initial October 3 presidential elections.

The October 3 presidential elections failed to decide the region?s new leader because of a standoff between the two main contenders ? Sergey Bagapsh and Raul Khajimba.

The two month crisis in the breakaway region ended in early December, when a powersharing agreement was reached between Bagapsh and Khajimba.

As a result, Bagapsh and Khajimba are running in one team in the repeat elections ? Bagapsh as the President and Khajimba as the Vice-President.