Abkhazian issue in the Constituent Assembly of Georgia

Abstract

Even before the restoration of state independence, among the Georgian political parties and the National Council, there was an unshakable conviction that Abkhazia was an integral part of Georgia and it would have "full internal independence, that is, broad autonomy." It was on this basis that the relations between the Republic of Georgia and Abkhazia began to be built in 1918-1921.
Before the formation of the Constituent Assembly, relations between the Georgian government and the Abkhaz National Council already had a certain experience of cooperation. Not only a verbal agreement was reached, but on June 11, 1918, an official agreement was drawn up, by virtue of which Abkhazia was declared an integral part of Georgia and autonomous rights were recognized for it. The government of Georgia undertook obligations to provide military-economic assistance to Abkhazia.
At the very first meeting of the Constituent Assembly on March 12, 1919, the act on the state independence of Georgia adopted by the National Council was approved. Among the subscribers were deputies of the Constituent Assembly from Abkhazia, who entered the country's legislative body on the lists of the winning Social Democratic Party.
On March 20, 1919, the People's Council of Abkhazia, by an absolute majority of votes, adopted the "Act on the Autonomy of Abkhazia" and forwarded it to the Constituent Assembly in Tbilisi. Following the act, "Abkhazia is a part of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, as its autonomous unit."
The Constituent Assembly of Georgia discussed this document and approved it. By the end of 1920, the constitutional commission developed a draft regulation on the autonomous government of Abkhazia, which, together with the Constitution of Georgia, was approved on February 21, 1921. And the Constitution of Georgia has legalized: an integral part of the Republic of Georgia - Abkhazia (Sukhumi District) in local affairs is given an autonomous right of government.