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The controversial leader of the Moscow-backed separatist region of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, said on November 16 that “legitimate authorities” control all of Abkhazia, with the exception of the parliamentary complex that opposition demonstrators had wrested control of a day earlier to initiate a controversial Russia to block. -related mood.

The opposition has since demanded the resignation of Bzhania and other senior officials and new elections.

Bzhania’s press service said he had held an urgent meeting with his cabinet at a school in his native village of Tamysh to “discuss ways to stabilize the situation that has arisen.”

Bzhania had before said he was “ready” to resign if opposition supporters agreed to leave the parliament building in the capital Sukhumi.

There were fears of escalating violence during the storming of parliament, which followed weeks of tensions, in a region whose independence Moscow has supported since a five-day war against Georgian forces in 2008 over another breakaway Georgian province, South Ossetia.

WATCH: The leader of the Moscow-backed Abkhazia region said on November 16 that he would resign if demonstrators leave the parliament building. A day earlier, demonstrators against an investment deal with Moscow stormed the parliament in Sukhumi, the administrative center of the Georgian breakaway region.

Opposition leaders have demanded not only the permanent halt to a proposed deal with Russia that opponents say would unfairly open the real estate market to wealthy Russians, but also Bzhania’s resignation and that of his vice president and the prime minister of the breakaway leadership .

“The situation will be stabilized. We will return everything to the legal framework,” the Bzhania press service quoted him as saying on November 16.

He reportedly added that “the entire country” – which is largely considered Georgian territory internationally – “is controlled by the legitimate authorities, with the exception of the building complex they have occupied.”

Tamysh is located about 40 kilometers from the capital of the region.

The opposition called for a new demonstration on November 16, after demonstrators stormed the parliament grounds the day before over a real estate deal with Moscow and demanded Bzjania’s ouster.

“Those who seized the buildings, those who tried to stage a coup, must leave the premises, after which I am ready to call elections, resign and call new elections,” Bzhania said from Tamysh.

However, the opposition seemed determined to ignore Bzhania’s demands.

“Aslan Bzhania is resorting to desperate attempts to preserve his government,” a so-called opposition Coordination Council said in a statement, adding: “His government is over.”

The statement accused Bzhania of “enriching his relatives and a small circle close to him.”

Local media said lawmakers had failed on November 15 to ratify the deal, which opponents fear could allow wealthy Russians to acquire real estate in the picturesque Black Sea region, driving up real estate prices and making it unaffordable for locals become.

Bzjania, the former head of Abkhazia’s state security service, told his supporters on November 16 that “tremendous pressure is being exerted on parliamentarians so that parliament makes an illegal decision to dismiss the president.” But he warned that the “2014 scenario will not repeat itself,” an allusion to one of two cases in which Abkhazian leaders resigned over opposition protests.

On June 1, 2014, Abkhazian leader Aleksander Ankvab resigned following protests by the opposition led by Raul Khajimba, who took his place, but also resigned after the Supreme Court annulled the results of the 2019 presidential election. Bzhania subsequently became president after winning a vote in March 2020.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke away from Georgian rule after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Moscow recognized the two regions’ independence after Russian forces repelled a Georgian attempt to retake South Ossetia in 2008 in a five-day war that ended with Georgia’s defeat.

Most countries still recognize Abkhazia as part of Georgia, but its economy is almost entirely dependent on Moscow, which pays both the salaries of government officials and social benefits to its residents.

Georgian pro-European President Salome Zurabishvili responded to tensions in what Tbilisi considers its occupied region by accusing Russia of “taking accelerated steps towards annexation” of Abkhazia.

Tensions have risen in the region in recent weeks, with opposition activists demanding an end to Russian dominance over the region and its economy, although opposition parties said on November 15 that their protest is not against Russia.

“The demonstrators’ actions are not directed against relations between Russia and Abkhazia,” they said in a joint statement. “In fact, we, the opposition, have always emphasized the importance of brotherly and strategic ties between our countries.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry accused the Abkhaz opposition of exceeding legal means and “provoking an escalation.” It said through a spokeswoman that Russia was not interfering and expected the situation “will be resolved exclusively through peaceful political means.”

Moscow has recommended that all Russian citizens in Abkhazia leave “if possible” and that others not travel there.