Georgia sharply criticized on Monday presidential elections held in the breakaway republic of South Ossetia, which were won by a pro-Russian, former KGB head.
“Our position remains unchanged,” said Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Nino Kalandadze. “The Tskhinval region remains an occupied territory of Georgia and any attempt to carry out any form of legitimate act will not be considered legitimate until those expelled on ethnic grounds have the right to vote.”
Former South Ossetian KGB head Leonid Tibilov, 60, won Sunday’s elections with 54.12 percent of the vote. He pledged to boost ties with Russia, including the neighboring Russian republic of North Ossetia.
Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war over tiny South Ossetia in 2008, which began when Georgian forces launched an attack on the republic’s capital of Tskhinvali, in an attempt to bring it back under Tbilisi’s control. Russia subsequently recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway Georgian republic. Only a handful of countries have so far followed suit.
The vast majority of South Ossetians are Russian passport holders, although the region is not a part of Russia. Many ethnic Georgians left the area after inter-ethnic fighting in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union.
South Ossetia held a runoff presidential vote in November, when opposition leader Alla Dzhioyeva defeated Anatoly Bibilov. But the vote’s results were canceled by the republic’s Supreme Court over alleged vote rigging on part of Dzhioyeva, who was banned from running in the repeat vote. Dzhioyeva’s refused to recognize the court's decision, but her protests ended in a police crackdown on her office and her brief hospitalization over heart problems.
