Abkhazia elects, on the national level, a head of state – the president – and a legislature.
The People's Assembly has 35 members, elected for a five-year term in single seat constituencies.
[1] Since then, Abkhazia has held two referendums in 1999 to approve its constitution and declaration of independence, and one in 2016 to hold early presidential elections, but it was declared invalid due to low voter turnout.
In early March the 35 seats of Parliament were contested by 150 candidates.
It was monitored by some NGOs from countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States,[2] as well as by a delegation from Tuvalu.