From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1991 Georgian independence referendum
|
|
|
|
Choice
|
Votes
|
%
|
Yes
|
3,295,493
|
99.49%
|
No
|
16,917
|
0.51%
|
Valid votes
|
3,312,410
|
99.59%
|
Invalid or blank votes
|
13,690
|
0.41%
|
Total votes
|
3,326,100
|
100.00%
|
Registered voters/turnout
|
3,672,403
|
90.57%
| |
An
independence referendum
was held in the
Republic of Georgia
on 31 March 1991. It was approved by 99.5% of voters.
[1]
Background
[
edit
]
The referendum was sanctioned by the Georgian
Supreme Council
which was
elected
in the first multi-party elections held in Soviet Georgia in October 1990, and was dominated by a pro-independence bloc
Round Table-Free Georgia
led by the Soviet-era dissident
Zviad Gamsakhurdia
. Having mostly boycotted the
all-Union referendum
on continued federation and the negotiations on a
new union treaty
on 17 March,
[2]
Georgia became the fourth Soviet republic, after the three
Baltic states
(
Lithuania
on 9 February 1991 and
Latvia
and
Estonia
on 3 March), to organize the referendum on the issue of independence.
[3]
The only question of the referendum asked: "Do you support the restoration of the independence of Georgia in accordance with the
Act of Declaration of Independence of Georgia
of May 26, 1918?" The official results showed over 99% in favor with a 90.6% voter turnout.
[1]
Due to the ongoing ethnic discord, the polls were largely boycotted by the non-
Georgian
population in
Abkhazia
and
South Ossetia
.
[3]
[4]
Four days after the final results were announced, the Georgian Supreme Council unanimously passed
the declaration of independence
on the second anniversary of the Soviet army
crackdown on peaceful protests
in
Tbilisi
on 9 April 1989.
[5]
[6]
The referendum coincided with a private visit of the former
U.S. President
Richard Nixon
who visited a few polling stations in Georgia’s capital
Tbilisi
before his departure to
Moscow
later that day.
[7]
Results
[
edit
]
Choice
| Votes
| %
|
---|
For
| 3,295,493
| 99.49
|
Against
| 16,917
| 0.51
|
Total
| 3,312,410
| 100.00
|
|
Valid votes
| 3,312,410
| 99.59
|
---|
Invalid/blank votes
| 13,690
| 0.41
|
---|
Total votes
| 3,326,100
| 100.00
|
---|
Registered voters/turnout
| 3,672,403
| 90.57
|
---|
Source: Nohlen
et al.
,
Direct Democracy
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Dieter Nohlen
, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001)
Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I
, p394
ISBN
0-19-924958-X
- ^
Although polling were opened in parts of
Abkhazia
and
South Ossetia
where the voters opted to remain in the renewed Union. Imogen Bell (2002),
Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia
, p. 171. Taylor & Francis,
ISBN
1-85743-137-5
.
- ^
a
b
Cornell, Svante E.,
Autonomy and Conflict: Ethnoterritoriality and Separatism in the South Caucasus ? Case in Georgia
Archived
June 30, 2007, at the
Wayback Machine
. Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Report No. 61. p. 163. University of Uppsala,
ISBN
91-506-1600-5
.
- ^
Jonathan Wheatley (2005),
Georgia from National Awakening to Rose Revolution
, p. 64. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.,
ISBN
0-7546-4503-7
.
- ^
Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia
, p. 171.
- ^
Suny, Ronald Grigor
(1994),
The Making of the Georgian Nation
, p. 326.
Indiana University Press
,
ISBN
0-253-20915-3
.
- ^
Soviet Georgians vote on independence.
The Boston Globe
, April 1, 1991.
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