Vice-President of Abkhazia Aslan Barcic has declared that Raul Khajimba has resigned from the office of president and won’t be running in the upcoming elections set to take place on March 22, reports TASS.

“Raul Khajimba won’t be running again. He is a citizen of his country and will stay here, and he will participate in the political process,” he said.

On Sunday evening, Khajimba announced about the end of his powers. He had been president since 2014 and was re-elected in September 2019.

On January 9, demonstrators in Sokhumi demanded the president’s resignation after invading the building of the administration, and the country’s parliament held a special session and accepted the application addressed to the president to resign.

On January 10, the Supreme Court of Abkhazia annulled the decision of the country’s Central Electoral Commission on the results of the presidential elections and designated new elections to be held on March 22. Khajimba’s press service announced that it would appeal the decision of the Central Electoral Commission.