Presidential elections were held in South Ossetia on 25 March 2012, with a second round on 8 April.[1] The election selected the first president since the country gained partial international recognition.[2]
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Background
editThe date was set by the parliament after the 2011 election was annulled by the Supreme Court after Alla Dzhioyeva was disqualified following allegations of electoral violations by Anatoly Bibilov.[2] A deal was reached on 9 December 2011 under which the incumbent Kokoity stepped down at the end of his mandate and was replaced by Prime Minister Vadim Brovtsev as acting president.[3] Though Dzhioyeva was previously barred from running again, she was allowed to register in the re-run of the election. However, Kokoity and his supporters reneged on parts of the deal,[which?] calling into question the stability of the compromise.[4]
Candidates
editNo candidate participating in the 2011 election registered, including the previous leaders Dzihoyeva and Bibilov. There were four registered candidates:[5]
- Leonid Haritonovich Tibilov, candidate in the 2006 election.
- David Georgievich Sanakoev, human rights commissioner.[6]
- Dmitriy Nikolayevich Medoyev, ambassador of South Ossetia to Russia[citation needed] and backed by Russia.[2]
- Stanislav Yakovlevich Kochiyev, chairman of the Communist Party of South Ossetia and speaker of the Parliament of South Ossetia.
Dzhioyeva did not register to run in the election after she was in hospital with allegations of being beaten and held against her will.[6]
Another candidate from 2011, Georgiy Kabisov, attempted to register twice, but both times was rejected by the central election commission.[7]
Yuri Dzitssuty, the vice-speaker of Parliament, attempted to register as a candidate. However, he was rejected by the central election commission due to "irregularities" in the 500 signatures he collected.[8]
Campaign
editTibilov and Sanakoyev disagreed with former President Eduard Kokoity who said that South Ossetia would eventually be a part of Russia. Sanakoyev said: "In November–December [2011], it became very clear that those supported by Kokoity did not win. Everyone saw it."[2]
Opinion poll
editA week before the election, an opinion poll by the IR media centre suggested Medoyev or Tibilov would win.[9]
Monitors
editIn addition to Russian observers the election commission said that it would call on the Council of Europe.[10]
Results
editWith 40% of the votes counted, Tibilov was in the lead with 42.5% of the votes, Sanakoyev followed with 24.6%[11] of the votes, Medoyev was third with 23.80% of the votes and Kochiyev trailed with 5.62% of votes counted.[12] First round turnout was over 65%, with expatriate voting still to be counted.[13] Without an absolute winner the election was set for a run off.[11]
The second round occurred on Easter with 84 voting centres opening at 8:00 for the 35,000 registered voters.[6] The preliminary result with 95.64% of the ballots counted, indicated Tibilov winning with 53.74%, or 15,257, of the votes, with Sanakoyev getting 42.98%, or 12,272, of the votes.[14]
| Candidate | Party | First round | Second round | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| Leonid Tibilov | Independent | 11,453 | 43.83 | 15,786 | 55.38 | |
| David Sanakoyev | Independent | 6,627 | 25.36 | 12,439 | 43.64 | |
| Dmitry Medoyev | Independent | 6,415 | 24.55 | |||
| Stanislav Kochiyev | Communist Party of South Ossetia | 1,417 | 5.42 | |||
| Against all | 216 | 0.83 | 279 | 0.98 | ||
| Total | 26,128 | 100.00 | 28,504 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 26,128 | 96.91 | 28,504 | 97.73 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 832 | 3.09 | 662 | 2.27 | ||
| Total votes | 26,960 | 100.00 | 29,166 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 39,030 | 69.08 | 40,929 | 71.26 | ||
| Source: RES, CIK | ||||||
Reactions
editAfter the first round, Tibilov said that "today's figures show that my candidacy is taken normally. Let's hope the second round confirms this." He also denied having Russian backing, but said that he would consult Russia in choosing his new government.[2]
Georgia – deputy Foreign Minister Nino Kalandadze said that South Ossetia "staged a farce. No one will recognise these elections, no matter who wins."[11]
- Minister for Reintegration Eka Tkeshelashvili said of that the election that it was "a continuation of farce and an imitation of elections in the Russian-occupied ethnically-cleansed region."[6]
Russia – after the first round, the Public Chamber's Maxim Grigoryev said that there were not "material breaches."[15]
United States – the embassy in Georgia said it does not recognise the election.[16]
References
edit- ^ "South Ossetia's presidential election rerun due March 25". ITAR TASS. 10 December 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
- ^ a b c d e Tsvetkova, Maria (26 March 2012). "Ex-KGB chief leads South Ossetia presidential race". In.reuters.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
- ^ "Dzhioyeva Threatens More Protests in South Ossetia". Rferl.org. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
- ^ "South Ossetian Opposition Suffers Setbacks". Rferl.org. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
- ^ "Список кандидатов в президенты РЮО". Cik.ruo.su. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
- ^ a b c d "AFP: Rebel South Ossetia holds run-off election". Google. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
- ^ "Georgy Kabisov again is being nominated as the president of South Ossetia". State Information Agency. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
- ^ "Верховный суд Южной Осетии оставил в силе решение ЦИК об отказе в регистрации Дзиццойты". Caucasian Knot. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ "Topic Galleries". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 10 April 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Международное сотрудничество". Cik.ruo.su. 24 March 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
- ^ a b c Bedwell, Helena (26 March 2012). "South Ossetia Faces Runoff as Georgia Calls Elections a Farce". Bloomberg. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
- ^ "Итоги обработки 40% бюллетеней". Cik.ruo.su. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
- ^ "Повторные выборы Президента РЮО 25 марта 2012 г". Cik.ruo.su. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
- ^ "Обработано 95,64% избирательных бюллетеней. Леонид Тибилов продолжает сохранять лидерство". Cik.ruo.su. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
- ^ "Заключения международных наблюдателей". Cik.ruo.su. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
- ^ "U.S. does not recognize 'elections' in Georgian separatist regions – Trend". En.trend.az. 26 March 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2012.