Anatoly Bibilov and Alla Dzhioyeva . Photo: Liberali
Russia's favourite was supported by 25.44 per cent of the voters. Alla Dzhioyeva was the runner-up with an insignificant margin of 0.07 percent. She was the only woman among the 11 candidates participating in the first round of the Elections.
On 13 November, 2011 simultaneously with the Presidential Elections the Referendum was held in South Ossetia. The question – "Do you want the Russian language to be granted an official status of State Language in South Ossetia?" received a positive answer from 83.99 per cent of the voters. Eduard Kokoyty described such a result as a "present for Russia".
The second round of the election will be held on 27 November, 2011. Both, Ossetian and Russian experts admit that “mild” Bibilov will have more difficulties while campaigning for the second round. The elections showed that temperate criticism of the Kokoyty government is not sufficient to gain support, since the majority of the republic’s population is overwhelmed by protest sentiments.
Forty-one-year-old Anatoliy Bibilov is the Kremlin's candidate. During the pre-election campaign the Russian Duma members one after another have visited Tskhinvali and openly supported Bibilov. People in Tskhinvali often say that such an unconcealed Kremlin support has negatively affected Bibilov.
Bibilov made his military career in Russia. He graduated from Lenin Komsomol Higher Paratrooper Command Academy in Ryazan. After graduation, he was sent to Pskov Landing Division; being a member of this Division he participated in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict in 1992. He also fought in the August 2008 war.
In September 2011, Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev issued a decree to award Bibilov Medal of Friendship for his contribution to Russian-Ossetian relations.
The incumbent president of the country, Eduard Kokoyty, also declared his support for Bibilov, but no one doubted in Tskhinvali that this was simply a farce. In reality, Kokoyty viewed another candidate - Information and Communications’ Minister Georgiy Kabisov - as his successor. However, Eduard Dzhabeyevich proved not to be courageous enough to openly confront the Kremlin's candidate.
At the forum, organized for Bibilov’s support, Kokoyty stood next to Bibilov. This was supposed to demonstrate Kokoyty’s acceptance of the Kremlin's position. Duma member Konstantin Kosachev read out Prime Minister Putin's telegram at the forum. When Kosachev finished reading, he handed over the “precious” telegram to Bibilov and not to Kokoyty. Everyone could notice Kokoyty's dissatisfaction.
However, it would have been better for both, the Kremlin and Bibilov, had Kokoyty not attended the forum at all. Unpopular president’s support proved to be only disadvantageous for Bibilov.
People in South Ossetia explain the success achieved by Alla Dzhioyeva, a teacher by profession, by the fact that Kokoyty's mortal enemy Dzhambulat Tedeyev supported exactly her in the Presidential Elections. Tedeyev himself was denied registration as a presidential candidate. According to public opinion polls, 20 per cent of South Ossetia's population supported Tedeyev, and Dzhioyeva was the one who won most of these votes during the elections.
Alla Dzhioyeva was South Ossetian Education Minister in 2002-2008. She was removed from the post in February 2008 and a criminal suit was filed against her for abuse of power, which involved financial violations in the ministry.
Alla Dzhioyeva was distinguished by her radical criticism of the Kokoyty government. They called her "Iron Lady" and "Stalin in a skirt" in Tskhinvali.
Dzhioyeva's supporters are the protesters. After 2008 August War the protest against the Kokoyty government reached its critical point; the main reason was the fact that although considerable financial assistance from Russia, the restoration work has not been completed in the republic even three years after the war.
The future support from the presidential candidates, who failed to succeed in the first round, will also have an impact on the second round of the election. As Dzhioyeva’s chances to win the second round become realistic, Kokoyty will unambiguously support Bibilov.
In Alla Dzhioyeva's headquarters say that the main threat of rigging comes from Leningori (Akhalgori) District. Here the most of the residents vote with so-called “Form No 2” instead of a passport, which increases the chances of rigging the elections. The fact is that most of the residents of Leningori have Georgian passports. "What can we do? These people were born in Leningori and they are local people. We cannot prevent them from participating in elections," Central Electoral Commission head Bella Pliyeva said in response.
At the same time, many South Ossetian citizens holding South Ossetian passports had no possibility to participate in the Elections: No polling stations were opened in North Ossetia, where many people from South Ossetia now live.
During the pre-election campaign before the first round Bibilov has refused to participate in TV debates. This time, the candidates will have to hold debates with each other to win over voters. When it comes to criticizing the government, Dzhioyeva is much stronger than Bibilov. However, the latter seems to be more solid, when speaking about prospects for the future.
Bibilov is saying that he is against radicalism: "Ossetia cannot survive radicalism. We should unite society". Dzhioyeva, on the contrary, is playing the role of Iron Lady, speaking about radical changes and frequently repeating the following phrase: "We will fight to the end".
Tskhinvali looks particularly sad in this frosty month of November.
Streets in Tskhinvali have been dug for over two years now, because water pipes and roads are being repaired in the town, but there seems to be no end to the work. Snow and rain often become a natural disaster for the town, since it’s impossible to move in the streets without rubber boots. Streets were full of slush on the Election Day too and people had to walk to polling stations knee-deep in mud. This was yet another reason to vote for the opposition on that day..
The terminology used in the article belongs to the author and not “Liberali”.
The article is prepared with support of Heinrich Boell Foundation. The publication statements and ideas do not necessarily express the Heinrich Boell Foundation opinion.