Tbilisi Condemns Illegal Elections and Referendum in Tskhinvali
TBILISI – Official Tbilisi condemns the presidential election and referendum held on 9 April 2017 in the occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) Region of Georgia.
Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has released an official statement, saying any elections or referendum in the occupied territories of Georgia are illegal and cannot have any legal effect.
“This provocative act by the Russian occupation forces grossly violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia and represents yet another attempt to legitimize the consequences of several waves of ethnic cleansing, military invasion and ongoing occupation of Georgian regions,” the statement reads.
The MFA says that holding the referendum on changing the name of one of the oldest Georgian regions into “Republic of South Ossetia — State of Alania” is aimed at laying the ground for its illegal annexation.
“This intention has been vividly demonstrated also by recently signed agreement on incorporation of the unlawful military units of the Tskhinvali region into the armed forces of the Russian Federation,” MFA stated.
The Foreign Ministry says that by these provocative actions, the Russian Federation intentionally impedes the efforts of peaceful conflict resolution, including within the Geneva International Discussions and hinders the confidence building between the communities divided by occupation lines.
The MFA also called on the international community to properly assess the illegal election and referendum and calls upon the Russian Federation to respect the fundamental principles of international law and withdraw its military forces from the Georgian territory.
“It is cynical to held elections and referendum on April 9 with several thousand people on the occupied territory while ethnic Georgians still remain IDPs,” Georgia’s Foreign Minister, Mikheil Janelidze stressed.
The Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, also released a statement regarding the issue. “We would like to clearly say again that any election or referendum in Georgia’s occupied territories is illegal and have no lawful results,” the PM said and added that the international community and certain countries have already expressed clear position to Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and confirmed that they unanimously condemn the illegal elections and referendum breakaway Tskhinvali.
“I believe that we, Georgians and Ossetians will find out the ways towards each other, overcome non-historical estrangement and will together care for building our motherland – Georgia,” the PM’s statement reads.
President Giorgi Margvelashvili stated that the recent development in breakaway South Ossetia resembles the scenario of the annexation of Crimea in 2014 by the Russian Federation. “Such action represents a severe pressure on Georgia and is aimed at further escalation of the situation in the Black Sea and the South Caucasus region,” the president’s statement reads.
Russian state-led news agency TASS reports that more than 78 percent of voters have supported the proposal on renaming South Ossetia to the State of Alania.
TASS says that according to the head of South Ossetia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) Bella Pliyeva, these figures referred to 27 polling stations, while there were 77 polling stations in total.
As for the presidential elections, South Ossetia’s election officials say Anatoly Bibilov, the speaker of the breakaway region's parliament, has taken the lead.
"According to our team, we have won by gaining 54.9% of the votes.There will be no second round of the election because 54.9 of the people have cast their votes for me," Biblov told TASS.
However, according to exit poll conducted by the NGO “Academy of sociological analysis” (ASA), incumbent de-facto President Leonid Tibilov is leading in the presidential elections but ASA says a second round will likely be needed.
Breakaway South Ossetia news agency PEC reports that the presidential elections were observed by members of the CEC of the Russian Federation, who “ensured that the polling stations were opened in time.”
The elections and a referendum in breakaway Tskhinvali were condemned by the European Union (EU) and the United States State Department on April 8.
Earlier last month Japan, Poland, Ukraine, the UN Human Rights and Security Councils have also condemned the developments in occupied South Ossetia region.
By Thea Morrison
Photo source: Tass.com