"I don't see Europeans, Caucasians, or just people in them. They are caliphs for an hour"
Ekho Kavkaza ― At a briefing in Sukhum, the representatives of the public movement "Abkhazian National Conference" expressed extreme concern about the actions of the authorities, which, according to them, ignore the opinion of society and make decisions that threaten sovereignty and national security. They called on citizens to participate in a scientific-practical conference, at which "red lines" will be formulated and outlined, which no government will be able to ignore or cross.
The public movement "Abkhazian National Conference" was created in 2020. It was planned that it would take on the development of the ideology of a self-sufficient, independent Abkhaz state.
Power turned into business
Participants of the "Abkhazian National Conference" believe that the situation in the country has sharply deteriorated as a result of the actions of the authorities, which ignore the opinion of society. Historian Guram Gumba stated:
Guram Gumba (center)
"The negative and destructive processes that emerged decades ago today are taking on a threatening character for our state. And they are accelerating. The current authorities not only do not make attempts to solve these problems, but take actions that are difficult to explain rationally. These actions are directed against national interests. It is surprising that the authorities try to make decisions that contradict the fundamental interests of our people, endangering the future of our people, causing a sharply negative reaction from society, but we see that public opinion has ceased to influence the authorities. The authorities ignore public opinion, which has never been characteristic of Abkhazia even in the Soviet period. This indicates that we are ceasing to be a society and turning into a population, into an electorate."
According to Gumba, if these processes are not stopped, either a dictatorship or chaos will be established in Abkhazia:
"If we cannot stop these processes, we have two options: the establishment of dictatorship and police regime, the establishment of violent power suppressing the will of the people, and I must say that the existing state system leads to this; the second path is chaos and anarchy. Both paths are unacceptable to us. They are unacceptable. The establishment of a dictatorship, such violent and police power with our mentality, with the widespread armament of the Abkhazian people - this is simply a utopia. But it can have the most severe consequences for our people and, above all, for the authorities themselves. We cannot allow either of these paths, but we also cannot allow this crisis to spill out onto the streets. We have already gone through this several times, we cannot constantly test the strength of our heads by stepping on the same rakes!"
He believes that national consensus is necessary for the full development of the Abkhazian state. It is impossible to achieve this by changing "some good people" for "other good people" in power, as has been attempted in Abkhazia in recent years. Consent should be based on common ideas, values, and goals. The problem is their absence.
+ Levan Mikaa: "It is important to preserve our sovereignty"
+ Akhra Aristava: "First recognition, and then trade and economic relations"
+ Said Gezerdaa: "The agreement on Pitsunda is one of the steps towards the erosion of state-sovereignty"
Society needs to solve two tasks: to determine what kind of state system is needed and how to form power so that not random people come there, but those who think in terms of common national categories.
"We cannot hand over power to careerists, people with a servant's soul who have turned it into a business. We cannot allow people to come to power to solve their personal interests. In Abkhazia, as in any country, there are weak-willed people who prioritize the principle of self-preservation over honour, dignity, and especially the freedom and independence of their country. They have always been there, but they always knew their place and publicly felt ashamed to talk about it. But today we see that these people not only started talking about it publicly, but they are trying to impose their helplessness and powerlessness on the whole society!" - summed up the historian.
"Right now, they decided to trade land! Understand, this won't work." Historian and Caucasus expert Ruslan Gozhba is convinced that "caliphs for an hour" have come to power:
Ruslan Gozhba
"Unfortunately, ignorance is coming from all sides, especially from the top. I don't see Europeans, Caucasians, or just people in them. They are caliphs for an hour. There is a good concept in the philosophy of the Abkhaz language and people: "There is no one who knows everything." This is one. The second is what people lack: self-awareness and warmth, love of the heart. Our karma goes through the heart, consciousness interferes, so our ancient philosophy believes. In this regard, forgive me, Lord, we have two televisions, I do not see their work, I do not see that they work for national self-awareness. The stronger the Abkhazian people feel themselves, the better it will be for everyone else to live here. Second, they fight for the land, there is an Abkhaz proverb: "All Abkhaz land is soaked with blood, and Abkhaz land cries when the blood of an Abkhazian is shed." I have heard this many times. Now they decided to trade land! Understand, this won't work. Understand, you are going against God, not against the people. Wake up, gentlemen, and open your eyes!"
Daur Kurmazia
The former Minister of Taxes and Levies, Daur Kurmazia, spoke about how society has been divided along political lines over the past twenty years. Two large and stable groups have formed - those in power and the opposition, periodically replacing each other. There is no visible or audible battle of ideas in society. Kurmazia agrees that the people must be united and form unity based on common ideas and values. According to him, the "Abkhazian National Conference" should become such a platform, which is not a political organization and does not fight for power, but strives to create an ideology on which government programs can be implemented.
"Red lines" for the government
According to former head of the state-owned [power] company "Chernomorenergo" Aslan Basariya, to neutralize the threat to national security posed by the current authorities, it is necessary to outline "red lines" for them:
"Man always comes first, then the idea, then the resources. Accordingly, when we talk about building a state or making certain decisions, we have not yet formulated the postulates and 'red lines' that no one can cross. When we say 'someone', we mean the next authorities. When these ideological postulates are not formulated, any government has the opportunity to violate them. Today, the activation of this platform is, of course, related to the fact that there are issues that not only cause concern but also pose a threat to national security. And in order to neutralize this threat, we all need to work on it, as our ancestors always did in this regard. If we ourselves do not become the architects of our own happiness, no one will help us. Therefore, I also call on everyone to participate in this work. This platform does not have a direct political bias, does not set the goal of fighting for power, but sets the goal of formulating postulates that any government that comes in a particular historical period should adhere to and be accountable to the people."
Aslan Basariya outlined these "red lines". These are issues related to the sale of real estate to foreign citizens, alienation of land and transfer of it into the ownership of another state, as the government intends to do with the state farm in Pitsunda; issues related to the privatization of the energy sector and all infrastructure facilities - railways, seaports, stations, and airports.
To address these issues, the "Abkhazian National Conference" has announced its intention to speak out on all possible platforms and hold a scientific-practical conference.
This new was published by Ekho Kavkaza, and is translated from Russian.