The breakaway province of South Ossetia — which seceded from Georgia in August 2008 in the aftermath of the Russo-Georgian war — held a presidential election and a referendum on 9 April.

The election was won by the speaker of parliament, Anatoly Bibilov, who won 58% of the popular vote. His immediate rival, the incumbent Leonid Tibilov, obtained only 30% and the third candidate Alan Gagloev, who has served his entire life in security services, won slightly more than 11%.

The outcome was predictable. Tibilov had fallen out of favour with Moscow because of the inefficiency of his government, corruption allegations, and his high personal unpopularity. Bibilov is reputed to be a staunch supporter of integration with Russia.

The referendum, which was held on  the same day, concerned changing the name of the secessionist region from ‘the Republic of South Ossetia’ to ‘the State of Alania’. According to the final count, 78% of eligible voters supported the renaming of the unrecognised state. Alania refers to an ancient kingdom conquered by the Tartars in the 14th century. The Republic of North Ossetia-Alania is part of the Russian Federation and also populated by ethnic Ossetians.

Speaking to journalists soon after his victory, Bibilov boldly stated that there was a 100% chance that, sooner or later, the two Ossetias would merge into a single entity within ‘Mother Russia’. “We are one people but were separated into two different countries by the Bolshevik Revolution. We ought to be together as a single nation,” he said. Bibilov added that he had discussed the merger with some Russian politicians but declined to name them.

The presidential election and referendum were both condemned by Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, as ‘utterly unconstitutional’. President Giorgi Margvelashvili also weighed in by … [article continues]