United Abkhazia holds conference, nominates presidential candidate

The Second Republican Conference of the United Abkhazia movement has taken place in Sukhumi.

Delegates to the conference proposed Sergey Bagapsh, Chernomorenergo State Company Director General, as a candidate for the presidency. 251 out of 256 delegates who attended the conference voted for him. They supported Sergey Bagapsh's suggestion to run together with the candidate for the post of Vice President, Professor Stanislav Lakoba.

Amtsakhara, the social and political movement of veterans of the 1992-1993 Patriotic War of the Abkhazian People, also supports the candidacies of Sergey Bagapsh and Stanislav Lakoba. It is known that United Abkhazia and Amtsakhara have united in a political coalition in the aftermath of the presidential election.

Beslan Kubrava, a United Abkhazia board member, gave a report about main directions of the movement's activity. According to him, the movement will pay special attention to the group of social issues, problems of demography and repatriation. "Our strategic task is to improve the people's well-being," Mr Kubrava said. The conference ended with the adoption of "The Appeal to the People of Abkhazia" devoted to the forthcoming presidential election.