Supporters of Leonid Tibilov, the former head of South Ossetia’s KGB (State Security Committee), gathered in Tskhinvali’s central square to congratulate him on winning the runoff presidential election, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported on Monday.
With 100 percent of the vote counted, Tibilov won 54.12 percent of the ballot in Sunday’s vote, an election committee source said. David Sanakoev came second with 42.65 percent, and 0.96 percent voted against all candidates.
Tibilov spoke to his supporters as about 700 people gathered on the square, according to the former Georgian republic’s law enforcement agencies.
“We won. I express acknowledgement and gratitude to all my supporters. Now we will all have to build a new successful rule-of-law state,” Tibilov said.
The turnout in the small Caucasus republic of 72,000 stood at 63 percent two hours before the vote’s end, far above the minimum threshold of 30 percent, the local CEC said.
No major violations were reported throughout the day, and a vote monitor from Russia’s CEC called the vote fair on Sunday. The European Union and the United States said earlier they do not recognize the vote as legitimate because they still consider South Ossetia part of Georgia.
The republic, recognized only by a handful of countries, including Russia, held a runoff presidential vote in November, when opposition leader Alla Dzhioyeva defeated Anatoly Bibilov.
But the vote’s results were canceled by the republic’s Supreme Court over alleged vote rigging on part of Dzhioyeva, who was banned from running in the repeat vote. Dzhioyeva’s refused to recognize the court's decision, but her protests ended in a police crackdown on her office and her brief hospitalization over heart problems.
