Last Sunday, the unrecognized republic of South Osetia de facto conducted presidential elections and a Referendum on Self-Determination. Both the elections and the referendum turned out to be a “dual” process. The supporters of the de facto current president of South Osetia, Edward Kokoyta, voted for him and the formal independence of the republic. The opponents of Kokoyta were participating in the alternative elections organized by the “Union of Osetia Salvation”. They were mainly the Georgian population and the Georgian refugees of South Osetia, who live outside the former autonomy. A referendum was conducted there too, however the referendum was for joining Georgia. Here the main presidential candidate was the former functionary of the de facto south-Osetian government (this person has gone on to become an unfavorable candidate for Kokoyta) Dmitri Sanakaoev, who finds the most important task of his policy the unionization of Osetians and Georgians on behalf of peace. However, what policy are we talking about? Who’s become the de facto president of the self-recognized state since Monday?
Neither the pro-Kokoyta, nor the Kokoyta opponents nor the fair results of elections cannot persuade the international community to recognize the independence of south Osetia despite the fact that they sent their monitors to observe the elections. It’s worth mentioning that the Georgian government is not going to recognize the results of the elections either. It’s still a question as to how the poor south Osetian Republic (meaning the poor Georgian villages compared to which Tskhinvali is so much better) succeeded in attaining financial means to conduct elections. And such elections require great means.
On the next day of elections Tbilisi made another gesture. Irakli Okuashvili was moved from the Defense Minister’s position to the Minister of Economy. That’s someone, who doesn’t accept the methods of peaceful resolution of conflicts. Political scientist Zakaerashvili thinks that this decision made by Michael Sahakashvili, may be observed as a positive step for the Osetian people.
When talking to the reporters of “168-Zham” newspaper the political scientist also mentioned that he has no doubt that the alternative elections are supported by the Georgian central government, however the attempts to destroy the “Tskhinvali order” can hardly be called democratic. “This process looks more like soiling water to catch their “fish” in the dirty water,” said Zakaerashvili. He also didn’t exclude the possibility of new tension in the region, the consequences of which he forecasts to be disastrous. “It’s not excluded that there is a certain plan dictated by other countries. They hope that in the event of certain tension and violence in the region after the elections, the government will have to mingle by bringing reasons that the situation is out of control and certain mediation is needed to solve the problems. The final result of this is going to be the return of the lost territories,” assumes Zakaerashvili.
The situation is really unusual in the region. The government has de facto identified the mentioned elections as non-governmental and has sued all the 5 “alternative” candidates, including Dmitri Sanakaoev. The government blames them of betraying their homeland and violation of the constitutional order. According to certain sources, a number of Osetian politicians have appeared in the isolation cells of Tskhinvali. These people are suspected of betraying the government of Kokoyta. They weren’t officially accused and their future obviously depends on the situation in the region. If the danger of the “alternative” activists is not considered as that great to the de facto government, then the ones imprisoned may be released soon. Of course, in Tskhinvali people categorically deny any information regarding repressions.