2022 Abkhazian parliamentary election

Abkhazia is a republic whose territory is part of Georgia and which proclaimed itself independent in 1992. Only Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru and Syria recognize this independence. In the previous parliamentary elections in 2017, Georgia said it considered these elections illegal under international law, with its Foreign Minister condemning the vote as "a new attempt to legitimize ethnic cleansing, military intervention and occupation of Georgian territory resulting from Russian aggression."[2]

123 candidates – 107 men and 16 women – ran for seats in the 35-member People's Assembly. 19 nominees were incumbent lawmakers running for re-election. The Abkhaz central election commission closed registration for candidates on 2 March. The Abkhaz government opposition requested a prolongation of the current legislature term to launch an impeachment process against president Aslan Bzhania but those requests were not answered.[3]

The 35 members of the unicameral People's Assembly are elected from single-member constituencies by parallel voting for five year terms.[4]

17 of the 35 constituencies elected members in the first round. At least 15 of these seats were held by supporters of the government.[5]

Elections in the first round were accompanied by relatively low turnout, averaging 51%, and in some constituencies, notably Sukhumi and West Abkhazia, it was well below 40%. This has raised questions from some media observers about the local politicians' trust in the general population.[10] There were reports of candidates ignoring the normal debates and focusing on service in their local communities instead, including installing new power transformers and fixing up rural roads. This was accompanied by candidates who had not been involved in politics winning or advancing to the second round at a high rate.[5]