South Ossetian opposition leader Alla Dzhioyeva asked her supporters on Sunday to stop demonstrations on the main square of the republic's capital, Tskhinvali, under a deal reached with the incumbent authorities.
The situation in restive South Ossetia, which declared independence from Georgia in 2008, heated up after Dzhioyeva won the November 27 runoff against a Kremlin-backed rival, according to preliminary results. Two days later, the republic's Supreme Court annulled the voting results, citing violations.
After that supporters of Dzhioyeva, who has declared herself president despite the court's ruling, started demonstrations.
"Between blood and our lives I choose the latter. We will win again," Dzhioyeva said.
Under the deal between current government and opposition, South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity, who has led the breakaway republic since 2001, announced his resignation on Saturday. A number of high-ranking state officials were sacked.
"We have gained a shattering victory, but it was stolen by Supreme Court chairman and one day he will be responsible for that. It is necessary to redeploy our forces now, we make one step back now to make two steps forward then," she said.
About 50 people were at the square, listening Dzhioyeva's speech. After the announcement, some of them started leaving the square but several supporters gathered round asking for explanations.
Dzhioyeva also called the protesters for joining her new party named Rastdzinad (The Truth), where bulk of members will be people who participated in the two-week protests on the main square of Tskhinvali.
