South Ossetia opposition leader Alla Dzhioyeva has urged acting president Vadim Brovtsev to hand power over to her, a statement issued by Dzhioyeva’s press service said on Wednesday.
Brovtsev was appointed as acting head of South Ossetia in December, after President Eduard Kokoity resigned over opposition protests in Tskhinvali, the region’s capital. Protesters disagreed with the annulment of the November 27 presidential runoff won by Dzhioyeva by the Supreme Court.
The appointment was also part of a deal reached with Dzhioyeva. According to the terms of the deal, Kokoity stepped down and Dzhioyeva obtained the right to take part in the new elections to be held on March 25, 2012.
“As of now, I retract my signature signed on this document and demand that all the legal procedures regulating the transfer of power to the candidate elected by the people of S. Ossetia are implemented,” Dzhioyeva said in a statement.
“Refusal to fulfill this demand will be considered unlawful retention of power,” the politician said, adding that Brovtsev had until January 23 to put forward his “decisions”.
Kokoity said he agreed to the deal in order to avert an outcome like Ukraine's 2004 "orange revolution."
The situation in restive South Ossetia, which declared independence from Georgia in 2008, heated up after opposition leader Alla Dzhioyeva won the November 27 runoff against a Kremlin-backed rival, regional emergencies minister Anatoly Bibilov.
Two days later, the republic's Supreme Court annulled the voting results, citing violations. Dzhioyeva was barred from running in a second election on March 25.
