Five Candidates to Contest in Tskhinvali ‘Presidential Vote’

Election administration of Russian-occupied Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia has registered five persons, including incumbent leader Anatoly Bibilov, as the candidates for the upcoming “presidential vote.”

Apart from Bibilov, Nykhas party leader Alan Gagloev, former lawmaker Dmitry Tasoev, incumbent legislator Garry Muldarov, and deputy speaker Alexander Pliev are set to vie for the post.

Meanwhile, the local election authorities yesterday rejected 12 candidacies, including recently dismissed “defense minister” Ibragim Gasseev and lawmaker David Sanakoev, who are seen as Bibilov’s main challengers.

The decision has stirred controversy in the region, with some pro-opposition Telegram channels accusing Bibilov exercising “feudalism in all its glory.”

“Georgia is trying to prosecute Sanakoev in the ICC, Bibilov has joined his [Georgian] partners… [Bibilov] does not want to hold elections… He wants another five years of torture, ceding lands to Georgia and cigarette trafficking,” another Telegram channel Bonvarnon wrote.

Previously, on February 21, the voting commission also refused to proceed with the registration process of former Tskhinvali leader Eduard Kokoity. The initiative group that has put forward his candidacy reportedly appealed the decision.

Notably, Sanakoev has recently come under the spotlight in Georgia after the Hague-based International Criminal Court filed an application for his arrest warrant over alleged war crimes committed in and around S. Ossetia, during August 8-27, 2008.

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