Advertisement

S. Ossetian leader forms opposition party

TSKHINVALI, Georgia, April 10 (UPI) -- An opposition leader from Georgia's breakaway republic of South Ossetia said she was forming a political party following presidential elections.

South Ossetia's Education Minister Alla Dzhioyeva claimed a win in a November election, beating Kremlin-backed incumbent Eduard Kokoity. The republic's court annulled the results, saying the vote was fraudulent.

Advertisement

A second round of voting took place last the weekend. Former KGB leader Leonid Tibilov secured a victory. Dzhioyeva, who claimed a "shattering victory" in the November contest, led demonstrations after she was barred from competing in the weekend election.

The former minister declared she would form a new opposition party, called Ossetia-Freedom Square.

"The name of our party is certainly connected with the November events when we defended our freedom in the theater square of Tskhinvali," she was quoted by Russia's state-run news service RIA Novosti as saying.

Russian and Georgia in 2008 went to war briefly over South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway republic. During debates last year over a European missile defense shield, the Kremlin said the 2008 conflict prevented NATO from expanding eastward.

Latest Headlines