Jioyeva Withdraws from S.Ossetia Post-Election Deal, Wants Power Transfer

Alla Jioyeva, an opposition leader in breakaway South Ossetia whose victory in last November’s presidential runoff over Kremlin-backed candidate was annulled, said that she had withdrawn from a post-election deal and demanded from the acting South Ossetian leader to resign and to “transfer power” to her.

Jioyeva said that her decision was motivated by the fact that the post-election deal was not fully implemented by the authorities.

According to the December 9 agreement, Jioyeva ceased two-week long street protest rally in Tskhinvali and agreed to run in the repeat presidential election scheduled for March 25, 2012. In return, Eduard Kokoity, who led the breakaway region since 2001, resigned. Breakaway region’s PM Vadim Brovtsev became an acting president to lead the region before repeat elections.

Resignation of Kokoity’s two key allies – chief prosecutor and chairman of the supreme court, was also part of the deal. But the breakaway region’s Parliament, dominated by Kokoity’s ruling Unity party, voted down on December 14 resignation of these two figures.

Russia acted as a guarantor of the deal, which was brokered by a Kremlin official who was in Tskhinvali during the post-election crisis negotiating with the opposition representatives.

Jioyeva in December called on Russia, as a guarantor of the deal, to secure its implementation, but Moscow rebuffed the South Ossetian opposition leader’s calls, saying it was beyond Russia’s authority to influence on the parliament in Tskhinvali.

“I have to notify you that starting from this moment I am withdrawing my signature from the document and demand to secure implementation of procedures as set by legislation for transfer of power to the president elected by the South Ossetian people,” Russian news agencies reported quoting Jioyeva’s written address to acting South Ossetian leader Brovtsev dated with January 17.

She also said that Brovtsev should notify her about his decision before January 23.

“I have signed this agreement for the sake of peace and calm for the South Ossetian people, but we have been simply deceived like kids. The agreement has not been fulfilled not only in the part of resignation of supreme court chair and chief prosecutor, but verbal agreement on allowing our representative, Anatoly Barankevich, to take seat in the cabinet has not been implemented too,” Jioyeva said in the statement.

She told RIA Novosti news agency on January 18, that after withdrawal from the post-election deal, she “will not accept” repeat presidential election scheduled for March 25.

In separate comments on Wednesday, Jioyeva told the South Ossetian official news agency that she was planning to hold a protest rally in Tskhinvali on January 21.