page_title: History of Adjara
section_title: Post-Abashidze era
hierarchical_section_title: History of Adjara / Post-Abashidze era
context_page_description: The article refers to the history of Georgia's autonomous province of Adjara.
context_section_description: On May 7, 2004 direct presidential rule was imposed in Adjara and 20-member Interim Council was set up to run the Autonomous Republic before the fresh local elections could be held in the region. Levan Varshalomidze was appointed as the Chairman of the Interim Council.
  Regional parliamentary elections were held on June 20. Victorious Adjara, party backed by President Saakashvili won 28 seats out of 30 in the local legislative body. The 2 other seats were occupied by Saakashvili's former allies, the Republican Party. There were allegations of vote-rigging from the Republicans, after they won less than 15 per cent of the vote. On July 20, Adjarian Supreme Council approved Levan Varshalomidze as the Chairman of the Autonomous Republic's Government.
  The regional policy of central and local governments focuses on attracting foreign investments in the region. A largescale campaign of privatization has been launched for this purpose.
  Russian military presence was another challenge in the region. Russia promised to withdraw its base at the 1999 Istanbul OSCE summit, and the protracted process of the ensuing negotiations remained a source of great tension with Georgia until the base was finally withdrawn by 2008.
caption: Flag of Adjara (adopted in 2004)