Incumbent President Ardzinba was nominated by the national-patriotic movement
Apsny, and also received the support of the
Communist Party and the Abkhaz diaspora in
Turkey. On 2 September, the CEC registered the nomination of former
Foreign Minister Leonid Lakerbaia by his
People's Party. However, his candidacy was not approved. The CEC also denied registration to Yahya Kazan, who had been Abkhazia's representative in the
United States, on the grounds that he had not lived in Abkhazia for the previous five years and that he did not have a working command of the
Abkhaz language. There were also rumours that former Vice Chairman
Zurab Achba of
Aidgylara would run for president, which he dismissed in an interview with
Nuzhnaya Gazeta as a "nightmare of an idea". ==Results==