Sergei Shamba Сергеи Шамба | |
|---|---|
| Chairman of United Abkhazia | |
| Assumed office 27 January 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Aleksei Tania (Acting) Daur Tarba |
| Prime Minister of Abkhazia | |
| In office 13 February 2010 – 27 September 2011 | |
| President | Sergei Bagapsh Alexander Ankvab (Acting) |
| Preceded by | Alexander Ankvab |
| Succeeded by | Leonid Lakerbaia |
| Minister for Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia | |
| In office 15 December 2004 – 26 February 2010 | |
| Prime Minister | Alexander Ankvab |
| Preceded by | Igor Akhba |
| Succeeded by | Maxim Gvinjia |
| In office 7 May 1997 – 14 June 2004 | |
| Prime Minister | Sergei Bagapsh Viacheslav Tsugba Anri Jergenia Gennady Gagulia Raul Khajimba |
| Preceded by | Konstantin Ozgan |
| Succeeded by | Gueorgui Otyrba(Acting) Igor Akhba |
| 2nd Chairman of Aidgylara | |
| In office 3 February 1990 – February 1992 | |
| Preceded by | Alexey Gogua |
| Succeeded by | Rauf Ebzhnou (acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1951-03-15)15 March 1951 (age 74) Gudauta, Georgian SSR, Abkhaz ASSRSoviet Union |
| Political party | United Abkhazia (2004) Social-Democratic Party (2004–2005) United Abkhazia (2016–present) |
Sergei Shamba (Abkhaz:Сергеи Шамба,Georgian:სერგეი შამბა) is a politician fromAbkhazia. He is currently a member of thePeople's Assembly of Abkhazia and Chairman ofUnited Abkhazia. He wasPrime Minister of Abkhazia under PresidentSergei Bagapsh from 13 February 2010 until 27 September 2011. Between 1997 and 2010 he had beenMinister for Foreign Affairs under both Bagapsh and his predecessorVladislav Ardzinba, with only a half-year interruption in 2004. Shamba has twice unsuccessfully contested the presidential elections, in2004 and2011. He has been a staunch proponent for dialogue betweenAbkhazia andGeorgia.[1]
Sergei Shamba was born on 15 March 1951 inGudauta.[2] He entered politics at the age of 24[citation needed]. Until February 1992, Shamba was the head ofAidgylara, which played a leading role in Abkhazia's struggle for independence. During the1992-1993 War in Abkhazia, he served as First Deputy Minister of Defence.[2]
On 7 May 1997, Shamba became Minister for Foreign Affairs, succeedingKonstantin Ozgan.[3] Throughout his time as foreign minister, it often fell to Shamba to defend Abkhazia's separation fromGeorgia in the international media. He has been a strong supporter of Abkhazian independence, and has flatly opposed any attempts at reunification with Georgia. Though he has headed several Abkhaz delegations toUnited Nations-sponsored talks with Georgia, Abkhazia has failed to receive any international recognition.
As foreign minister, Shamba dealt with several leaders of non-government organizations, meeting, among others, InternationalRed Crescent Organization president Jean Michel Corbot. He succeeded in gainingUSAID assistance for several reconstruction projects inSukhumi.
In 1998, Shamba received his Doctorate from the Yerevan Institute of Archeology. On 9 July 2001, Shamba was awarded the diplomatic rank of Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador.[2]
Shamba resigned from the post of foreign minister on June 14, 2004, citing a number of reasons, such as the murder, five days before, of fellow opposition leaderGarri Aiba and the upcoming presidential elections. After his resignation, he openly called for the entire government to stand aside.
Shamba was one of the favorites to receive the nomination of the newly forgedAmtsakhara-United Abkhazia opposition alliance for theOctober 2004 presidential elections. However, on July 20, 2004, the movements named former prime ministerSergei Bagapsh andStanislav Lakoba as their respective presidential and vice presidential candidates. Shamba still participated in the election withVladimir Arshba as his running mate and he came in third place with 6.9% of the vote. After the election a conflict broke between front runnersSergei Bagapsh andRaul Khajimba, which was only resolved when the two teams agreed to holdnew elections in which they would participate on a joint ticket.
During the crisis on 15 October Shamba had founded theSocial-Democratic Party of Abkhazia along with other people from his election campaign, chief of staffGennadi Alamia became its first chairman.[4] The Social-Democratic Party called on voters to boycott the new elections and Shamba did not participate in it.[5]
On 15 December 2004 Shamba had again been appointed Minister for Foreign affairs by Ardzinba, replacingIgor Akhba.[6] The power-sharing agreement between Bagapsh and Khajimba stipulated that the latter could appoint the newMinister for Foreign Affairs, and Khajimba chose to keep Sergei Shamba, despite the fact that Bagapsh long insisted on appointingNatella Akaba. Even though Shamba had now joined the government, the social-democratic party stayed in opposition.
On 20 May 2009 the Social-Democratic Party was one of a number of opposition parties that during a press conference strongly criticised the government's foreign policy.[7] The criticism was rejected by Shamba two days later, dismissing it as "biased".[8]
Despite being considered by some to again be a possible candidate,[9] Shamba did not participate in theDecember 2009 presidential election. The election resulted in a second term for Sergei Bagapsh, and on 13 February 2010, Shamba was appointed prime minister,[10] succeeding Alexander Ankvab, who had become vice president.[2][11] On 26 February Shamba was succeeded as Foreign Minister by his deputyMaxim Gvinjia.[12][13]
The next presidential election was originally scheduled to take place in 2014, however, theConstitution of Abkhazia required an election to be held within three months after the unexpected death of incumbent presidentSergei Bagapsh on 29 May 2011. Only three candidates participated: Shamba, outgoing Vice President and Acting PresidentAlexander Ankvab and opposition leaderRaul Khajimba. Shamba's vice presidential candidate was deputy chairman of the State Committee for Youth Affairs and SportShamil Adzynba. The pair was nominated by an initiative group on 8 July and applied for registration on 16 July.[14][15] All presidential candidates passed their Abkhaz language test on 20 July 2011, were formally registered by the Central Election Commission on 25 July and received their certificates on 26 July.[16][17]
Shamba and Adzynba received political support from theParty for Economic Development on 21 July, 10 (out of 12) members of theAssociation of Youth Organisations on 28 July and theCommunist Party 9 August.[18][19][20] The election campaign was led byBeslan Eshba.[21]
The election was won by Alexander Ankvab. Shamba came in second place with 21.02% of the vote, narrowly ahead of Khajimba.[22]
After the election, Shamba retired from active politics. Observers noted that Shamba would have been above the legal maximum age for the Presidency at the time of the next election. Shamba himself has stated that he wanted to make way for younger politicians, hoping that Abkhazia had entered a new phase of sustained development and conflict-free transfers of power.[23]
Shamba was one of the leaders of the protests that led to theMay 2014 ouster of President Ankvab. After the election ofRaul Khajimba as president, he participated in the 21 December by-election in Constituency no. 24 that had become necessary after Khajimba had appointedAdgur Kharazia as acting mayor ofSukhumi.[24][25] On 3 November, Shamba's nomination by an initiative group was registered.[26] Shamba failed to obtain a first-round victory, but defeated Tengiz Agrba in the run-off on 28 December.[27][28]
On 5 September 2015, Shamba became the leader of a faction he established along with six other members of the People's Assembly.[29][30]
On 27 January 2016, Shamba was elected Chairman of United Abkhazia during its sixth congress, afterDaur Tarba had resigned the role on 1 October 2015.[31][32]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister for Foreign Affairs 1997–2004 | Succeeded by Gueorgui Otyrba Acting |
| Preceded by | Minister for Foreign Affairs 2004–2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Abkhazia 2010–2011 | Succeeded by |
