Communist Party of Abkhazia

Communist Party of Abkhazia Аҧсны Акомунисттә Апартиа
Leader	Lev Shamba
Founded	March 1921 4 March 1995
Headquarters	Sukhumi
Ideology	Communism Marxism–Leninism
Political position	Left-wing
Continental affiliation	Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Politics of Abkhazia Political parties Elections

The Communist Party of Abkhazia (CPA) (Abkhaz: Аҧсны Акомунисттә Апартиа; Georgian: აფხაზეთის კომუნისტური პარტია) is a political party in Abkhazia. The party leader is Lev Shamba.

The CPA was founded in March 1921 with the demand of a separate Abkhaz Soviet Republic. It was then led by E. Eshba. Eshba had formed a Bolshevik military-revolutionary committee in Sukhumi in the summer of 1918. Eshba's group demanded direct integration of Abkhazia into the Soviet Union. During the Soviet period, the CPA was a part of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1988, the CPA demanded Abkhaz secession.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the CPA was refounded as an independent party on 4 March 1995. In the nineties, it was led by Enver Kapba. During the first Presidential election of Abkhazia, in 1999, it supported President Ardzinba (who ran unopposed).

The CPA maintains close contacts with communist groups in Russia. It is affiliated to the Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union. However, unlike many of the other communist organisations in the region, the CPA has denounced the political legacy of Joseph Stalin.

The CPA planned to hold its 8th congress on 30 October 2013, and Lev Shamba announced that he planned to resign as leader, which he had been for eight years, but he was still Chairman by the time of the Party's twentieth anniversary in 2015.