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Abkhazian flags for sale in Sukhumi, the unrecognized country's capital. Observers declared the elections free and fair.

SUKHUMI (Tiraspol Times) - "We couldn't care less," was the basic message from Abkhazia to a series of holier-than-thou press releases from US, EU and NATO officials.

The Western powers had criticized Abkhazia for organizing the unrecognized country's regularly scheduled March 4 parliamentary elections, but foreign minister Sergei Shamba responded by saying that "The Abkhazian leadership does not have any deep feelings about how they responded to the elections."

In an interview with news agency Itar-Tass, Shamba described the statements by Georgian, US, NATO and EU officials as "a chorus of protest against the democratic expression of the Abkhazian people's will."

" - We already heard these kind of protests after previous elections in Abkhazia. At first, we were surprised about the Western democracies' refusal to recognize democratic processes in the country. Now we have just stopped reacting in any way," said the foreign minister, hinting at hypocrisy and an obvious double standard supposedly orchestrated by pro-Georgian officials in Washington.

" - The top priority for us is free expression of our people's will. Our people seek to build a democratic society ruled by law. The March 4 election was another step that took us closer to that goal," Shamba asserted.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Monday that "NATO does not recognize independent parliamentary elections in Abkhazia," leading at least one journalist to publicly wonder: Since when is a military alliance like NATO suddenly in the business of recognizing civilian elections? NATO has no involvement in the territorial conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia, and has repeatedly ruled out providing troops to settle the dispute in a military way.

International observers hail elections as democratic

In contrast to the international community's criticisms, the Speaker of Russia's lower house, parliamentarian Sergey Baburin, backed the Abkhaz elections and said that "this a new stage on the way to international recognition of the republic."

" - The fact that the elections were held under calm circumstance on the whole territory of Abkhazia, including in the Georgian-populated Gali district, proves that Abkhazia's authorities are able to guarantee democratic processes in the country. The electing of different political forces is also important for the development of the pluralistic democracy which is what the West is so keen on," Baburin stated to Apsnypress on March 5, calling on Abkhaz political forces to seek international recognition of the republic and enhance cooperation with friendly and understanding neighbors like Russia.

Recent parliamentary elections in Abkhazia were a continuation of its democratic traditions, an official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

Mikhail Kamynin said international observers characterized the elections as well organized.

" - This is a continuation of [the republic's] democratic traditions, which emerged during the recent elections to local bodies in Abkhazia," he said.

" - As for the question of whether to support or not support the Abkhazian elections, which foreign partners are placing an emphasis on, in the current conditions it is a matter and the responsibility of local citizens," he said.

" - The expression of the people's will ... cannot be an obstacle to international efforts toward reaching a just and lasting settlement of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict," he said.

On March 4, a first round of parliamentary elections was held in Abkhazia, with some 50% of the parliament's members elected. The second round will take place in two weeks in 17 of 35 single-seat constituencies. A total of 108 candidates ran for 35 seats in the legislature, and the election turnout was some 50%.

Four MPs from Pridnestrovie who participated in the election along with teams of international observers from 12 countries returned to Tiraspol Wednesday. They declared that elections had been free and fair, and held without any reported irregularities. An ethnically Georgian minority which lives within the borders of Abkhazia also participated, and helped elect their own representatives to the country's new multi-ethnic parliament. (With information from The Messenger, RIA Novosti)

See also:
» Abkhazia voting calm and democratic, MPs say [1]
» OSCE cries fraud but did not observe vote [2]