Raul Khadjimba

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Raul Djumka-ipa Khajimba Рауль Џьумка-иҧа Ҳаџьымба
2nd Vice President of Abkhazia
In office February 12, 2005 – 28 May 2009
President	Sergei Bagapsh
Preceded by	Valery Arshba
8th Prime Minister of Abkhazia
In office April 22, 2003 – October 6, 2004
President	Vladislav Ardzinba
Preceded by	Gennady Gagulia
Succeeded by	Nodar Khashba
4th Minister of Defence of Abkhazia
In office 2002 – April 22, 2003
President	Vladislav Ardzinba
Preceded by	Vladimir Mikanba
Succeeded by	Vyacheslav Eshba
Born	1958 Tkvarcheli, Ochamchira district, Abkhazian ASSR, Georgian SSR, USSR
Political party	Forum of Abkhaz People’s Unity

Raul Djumka-ipa Khajimba (Abkhaz: Рауль Џьумка-иҧа Ҳаџьымба; born 1958) is an independent opposition politician in Abkhazia. Until 28 May 2009 Khajimba served as Vice President following the power-sharing agreement reached with current president Sergei Bagapsh to end the crisis that followed the October 2004 presidential election. Even though Khajimba joined the government, the parties that had supported him did not and he was seen as the informal head of the opposition. During the second half of May 2009 a group of opposition parties expressed sharp criticism of government policy and on 28 May Khajimba resigned, stating that he shared the criticism.

Before becoming Vice President Khajimba had previously served as Prime Minister and as Minister of Defence of Abkhazia.

[edit] Career

A former KGB agent,^[1] Khadjimba had previously served as both deputy prime minister (2001-2002) and defence minister (2002-2003), before succeeding Gennady Gagulia as Prime Minister on April 22, 2003. He remained prime minister until October 2004. He had also served as head of the Abkhaz security service from 1999 to 2001.

As then-President Vladislav Ardzinba was seriously ill and did not appear in public during his term, Khajimba acted as a de facto head of state in his absence. In this role, he met a number of political leaders, including Igor Ivanov, foreign minister of Russia. He has been a sharp opponent of reunification with Georgia, and vehemently condemned Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili's proposal for a two-state federation in May 2004.

Khadjimba was tipped as the favourite to win the October 2004 presidential elections, and was strongly endorsed by both outgoing president Ardzinba and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Both men campaigned on his behalf and dedicated significant resources to assisting the Khadjimba campaign. However, opposition candidate Sergei Bagapsh polled more votes on election day, in what was widely attributed as a backlash against the strong Russian influence in his campaign.

After the election, both Bagapsh and Khadjimba claimed victory, with Khadjimba alleging that electoral fraud in the pro-Bagapsh Gali region had been responsible for Bagapsh's win. Ardzinba soon dismissed Khadjimba as Prime Minister, replacing him with a compromise candidate, Nodar Khashba, and two months of drawn-out disputes followed, involving public protests, court action and parliamentary proceedings.

In December 2004, Khadjimba and Bagapsh came to an agreement which would see the pair run as part of a national unity ticket in repeat elections, with Khadjimba running as Bagapsh's Vice-President. As part of this deal, the position of vice-president was given expanded powers covering defence and foreign affairs. The joint ticket easily won the January 2005 election, winning more than 90% of the vote.

However, in the aftermath of the election win, many analysts have suggested that Khadjimba's executive authority will be somewhat limited under the new arrangement, with Bagapsh and his Prime Minister, Alexander Ankvab, likely to maintain ultimate control over the areas of policy nominally assigned to the vice-president.

The controversy resurfaced again in June 2008, when Khadjimba attended a congress of the Aruaa veteran organisation, of which he is a member. The congress issued a statement criticizing the Bagapsh administration’s “multi-vector foreign policy”, referring to the talks with Georgian and Western diplomats, and called for greater ties with Russia. The pro-Bagapsh politicians from the Amtsakhara veteran organisation described Khadjimba’s criticism of the government, in which he was a vice-president, “immoral”. Later that month, Khadjimba reiterated his stance towards Bagapsh’s foreign policy, stating that Abkhazia’s only protector could be Russia and using force would be inevitable for gaining control of the upper Kodori Valley in northeastern Abkhazia, the only part of Abkhazia under Georgian controll at the time.^[2][3][4][5] In August 2008, the Abkhazian military did take the upper Kodory Valley by force during the August 2008 war over South Ossetia.^[6]

On 18 May 2009 the Forum of Abkhaz People’s Unity and Aruaa issued a press statement and on 20 May they gave a press conference with several other oposition parties, on both occasions voicing severe criticism over the achievements of the government and recent foreign policy decisions.^[7] On 28 May Khajimba resigned, saying that he agreed with the criticism,^[8] but attributing his failure to tackle corruption and improve security to lack of room for maneuvre and no support from the president Bagapsh whom he also accused of violating the 2004 powersharing agreement and criticized him for signing a border protection agreement with Russia in 2009.^[9]

[edit] References

Preceded by Vladimir Mikanba	Minister of Defence of Abkhazia 2002–2003	Succeeded by Vyacheslav Eshba
Preceded by Gennady Gagulia	Prime Minister of Abkhazia 2003–2004	Succeeded by Nodar Khashba
Preceded by Valery Arshba	Vice President of Abkhazia 2005–2009	Succeeded by Vacant

v • d • e Prime Ministers of Abkhazia Vazha Zarandia  · Tamaz Nadareishvili  · Zhiuli Shartava  · Sokrat Djindjolia  · Gennady Gagulia (1st )  · Sergei Bagapsh  · Vyacheslav Tsugba  · Anri Djergenia  · Gennady Gagulia (2nd )  · Raul Khadjimba  · Nodar Khashba  · Alexander Ankvab  ·