Abkhazian New Union Treaty referendum, 1991
Encyclopedia
On 17 March 1991 a referendum was organised in the Abkhazian ASSR, in which the population was asked to express its opinion over the New Union Treaty
, through which the Soviet Union
would have been reorganised into a less centralised state. The referendum was largely boycotted by the Georgian section of society, thereby following the example of the rest of the Georgian SSR where no referendum was organised. Vice versa, the non-Georgian population stayed home when about a month later a referendum was held concerning Georgian independence
.
of 52.32% out of 318,317 officially registered voters.
The fact that voters in Abkhazia approved the new union treaty while the Georgian SSR declared its independence on 9 April has been advanced by Abkhazia as an argument that Georgia became de jure independent from the Soviet Union without Abkhazia, which was then free to choose its own future. The argument is based on Soviet law which stated that if a union republic like Georgia should choose to secede, that its autonomous parts like Abkhazia then have the right to decide for themselves their political future. Georgian arguments against this line of reasoning include the claim that the relevant law was illegal as it infringed on the sovereign rights of the Georgian SSR, or that Georgian secession was not based on this law - which stipulated a lengthy exit procedure - but rather on the Georgian SSR's fundamental sovereignty.
New Union Treaty
Union of Sovereign States was the proposed name of a reorganization of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics into a new confederation body. Proposed by Mikhail Gorbachev, the proposal was an attempt to avert the collapse of the Soviet Union. The proposal was never implemented in the wake of the...
, through which the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
would have been reorganised into a less centralised state. The referendum was largely boycotted by the Georgian section of society, thereby following the example of the rest of the Georgian SSR where no referendum was organised. Vice versa, the non-Georgian population stayed home when about a month later a referendum was held concerning Georgian independence
Georgian independence referendum, 1991
An independence referendum was held in Georgia on 31 March 1991. It was approved by 99.5% of voters.-Background:The referendum was sanctioned by the Georgian Supreme Council which was elected in the first multi-party elections held in Soviet Georgia in October 1990, and was dominated by a...
.
Results
166,544 people cast a vote, of which 98.61% were in favour of the new union treaty, as against 0.94% opposed, with 0.45% of the votes invalid. The 166,544 voters represented a turnoutVoter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
of 52.32% out of 318,317 officially registered voters.
Consequences
The Union Treaty was approved in the republics where referendums were held, but its coming into effect was prevented by the August 1991 coup attempt and the subsequent dissolution of the Soviet Union on 26 December.The fact that voters in Abkhazia approved the new union treaty while the Georgian SSR declared its independence on 9 April has been advanced by Abkhazia as an argument that Georgia became de jure independent from the Soviet Union without Abkhazia, which was then free to choose its own future. The argument is based on Soviet law which stated that if a union republic like Georgia should choose to secede, that its autonomous parts like Abkhazia then have the right to decide for themselves their political future. Georgian arguments against this line of reasoning include the claim that the relevant law was illegal as it infringed on the sovereign rights of the Georgian SSR, or that Georgian secession was not based on this law - which stipulated a lengthy exit procedure - but rather on the Georgian SSR's fundamental sovereignty.