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Sunday, 23 May 2004

SOUTH OSSETIA HOLDS PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION

Published in News Digest

By empty (5/23/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Parliamentary elections were held on 23 May in Georgia\'s breakaway, unrecognized Republic of South Ossetia. Preliminary returns show that the Unity Party of President Eduard Kokoity won a majority of 30 seats, half of which are distributed under the party list system and half in single-mandate constituencies. Four of the latter seats were reserved for the republic\'s Georgian population, but voting took place in only five predominantly Georgian-populated villages.
Parliamentary elections were held on 23 May in Georgia\'s breakaway, unrecognized Republic of South Ossetia. Preliminary returns show that the Unity Party of President Eduard Kokoity won a majority of 30 seats, half of which are distributed under the party list system and half in single-mandate constituencies. Four of the latter seats were reserved for the republic\'s Georgian population, but voting took place in only five predominantly Georgian-populated villages. On 21 May, South Ossetian Foreign Minister Murad Dzhioev said that members of the Georgian youth movement Kmara! (Enough!) will be denied entry to South Ossetia. On 22 May, Kokoity also likened the policies of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to those of radical nationalist former President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who formally abolished the republic\'s autonomy. Kokoity affirmed that the people of South Ossetia remain committed to their pro-Russian orientation. Neither Georgia nor the international community recognize the polls as valid. (Interfax)
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