“Our purpose is to create the situation when the head of state voluntarily steps down,” members of “the union of political parties and public organizations of Abkhazia” said during the new entity’s first press conference on January 23.

The union was established earlier in January following protest rallies in response to Russian-backed Sokhumi leader Raul Khajimba’s decision to release prisoner Giorgi Lukava, whom Sokhumi accuses of murder and kidnapping. The union includes Amtsakhara and United Abkhazia opposition parties, as well as several non-government organizations.

“We realize the full seriousness of this demand. We understand what kind of events all this may mean. But such are the circumstances,” said during the press conference a representative of the union - the head of APRA foundation and a member of “Abkhazia parliament” Aslan Bzhania. He added that the opposition would seek to achieve Khajimba’s resignation “only through legal means.”

United Abkhazia party leader, Sergey Shamba said at the press conference that “the president demands adherence to the law, but breaks it himself. At the same time, the representatives of the authorities move around the country and justify president’s actions. They cling to power with all their strength.”

Opposition members accuse Khajimba of breaking the law by his order to release Lukava. The “parliamentary commission” created to review the legitimacy of Lukava’s release deferred the final decision to the “constitutional court,” although the latter has not started to function yet.

Raul Khajimba has visited several districts of Abkhazia since January 16, meeting with local supporters and reiterating his position that he had the right to order Lukava’s release.