History of Adjara - Post-Abashidze Era

Post-Abashidze Era

On May 7, 2004 direct presidential rule was imposed in Adjara and 20-member Interim Council was set up to run the Autonomous Republic before the fresh local elections could be held in the region. Levan Varshalomidze was appointed as the Chairman of the Interim Council.

Regional parliamentary elections were held on June 20. Victorious Adjara, party backed by President Saakashvili won 28 seats out of 30 in the local legislative body. The 2 other seats were occupied by Saakashvili's former allies, the Republican Party. There were allegations of vote-rigging from the Republicans, after they won less than 15 per cent of the vote. On July 20, Adjarian Supreme Council approved Levan Varshalomidze as the Chairman of the Autonomous Republic's Government.

The regional policy of central and local governments focuses on attracting foreign investments in the region. A largescale campaign of privatization has been launched for this purpose.

Georgian opposition and some European observers criticize the current status of Adjara and say that the Georgian central government has brought the status of autonomy down to nominal. Some claims have been made about human right violations, particularly in the mass media.

Russian military presence was another challenge in the region. Russia promised to withdraw its base at the 1999 Istanbul OSCE summit, and the protracted process of the ensuing negotiations remained a source of great tension with Georgia until the base was finally withdrawn by 2008.