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Breakaway South Ossetia votes for parliament

Georgia Materials 31 May 2009 19:58 (UTC +04:00)

The rebel Georgian region of South Ossetia voted Sunday in polls that could secure the grip of its separatist leader nine months after it was the subject of war between Russia and Georgia, AFP reported.

The local opposition says Eduard Kokoity is seeking to use the legislative elections to forge a loyal parliamentary majority to push through an amendment allowing him to run again for office when his second term lapses next year.

Russia -- which outraged the West by recognising South Ossetia as independent in the wake of August's war with Georgia --- has said South Ossetia should not amend the existing term limits in its constitution.

Four parties are competing for the 34 seats in the parliament, but the central election commission has barred the only two parties not loyal to Kokoity.

Opposition activities said voting would not make a difference. "I plan to sit at home. There's nothing we can do," said Alan Gassiyev, an opposition leader, calling the polls "completely illegal."

"It's too bad if he wants to change the constitution," added Grigory Dzassokhov, a 55-year old former history teacher. "It would be nonsense. What kind of democracy is that?"

Critics accuse Kokoity, an ex-wrestling champion, of muzzling opponents and stealing the money sent from Russia.

Georgia ridiculed the vote, with the country's reintegration minister Temur Iakobashvili saying the elections were "nothing but clownery, a farce and a redistribution of a criminal power."

Kokoity insisted however the elections were in strict accordance with law, saying the polls were "a maturity test for the small independent state."

A large number of voters at the polling stations was proof that the vote was deemed genuine by people, he said.

"At 10:00 am I can already say there's a very high turnout," he added. Officials said it already amounted to 19 percent by that time.

Eighty-eight polling stations have been set up for the region's 50,000 residents as well as additional sites in Russia for expatriates and refugees from the fighting.

Kokoity currently does not have the two-thirds of seats in the parliament to amend the constitution.

As the region scrambles to rebuild itself in the aftermath of the war, the opposition accuses Kokoity and his circle of diverting lorries carrying construction material and humanitarian aid to traffic the goods in Russia.

Out of over 10 billion rubles (320 million dollars, 230 million euros) in aid money budgeted by Moscow, South Ossetian authorities say they have spent just 1.5 billion rubles.

Kokoity -- who built connections in Moscow working as a trade official for the rebel region when it was known as a highway for smuggling in the early 1990s -- has rejected accusations against him as Georgian propaganda.

"With what happened in August we need three to four years to rebuild," Kokoity said.

And as the looming political scandal in the region threatens to become an embarrassment for Moscow, there are signs that the Kremlin is scaling back its support for the South Ossetian leader.

Sergey Naryshkin, the head of the Russian presidential administration, said on Russian television this month that South Ossetia should not amend the existing term limits in its constitution.

Moscow and Tbilisi fought a brief but intense war last August over the region, which had enjoyed de facto independence since the early 1990s thanks to tacit Russian support.

Following the conflict Russia formally recognised the region as independent, a move followed only by Nicaragua.

Russia took formal control of guarding its borders this month, in a move condemned by the West as a violation of an EU-brokered ceasefire that ended the fighting last August.

The vote was a leading news item on the Russian television, which gave it favorable coverage.

Voting was expected to end at 8:00 pm (1600 GMT), with the first results expected two hours later.

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