2017 South Ossetian presidential election

Presidential elections were held in South Ossetia on 9 April 2017 alongside a referendum on changing the official name of the state to "Republic of South Ossetia–the State of Alania", or "South Ossetia–Alania" for short.^[1] Incumbent President Leonid Tibilov ran for a second and final term in office,^[2] but was defeated by Anatoly Bibilov of the United Ossetia party.

Background[]

The date was set by Parliament on 18 January 2017.^[2]

Candidates[]

Leonid Tibilov, President of South Ossetia since 2012^[3]
Anatoly Bibilov, Speaker of Parliament^[3]
, former KGB officer^[3]
, construction company owner^[3]

Disqualified candidates[]

Eduard Kokoity, President of South Ossetia from 2001 until 2011. His candidacy was rejected due to the Central Electoral Commission finding that he did not meet the residency requirements; a candidate must live in South Ossetia for at least nine months of the year in the ten years preceding an election.^[3] The decision to disqualify Kokoity led to several protests in Tskhinvali, though the decision was not amended.^[4]

Opinion polls[]

Date	Pollster	Tibilov	Bibilov		Against all	Undecided
9 April 2017	Election	33.7%	54.8%	10.2%	1.3%	0%
4 April 2017	South Osetia Research Institute	40.7%	23.6%	19.9%	–	15.8%

Results[]

The final result had Bibilov well out in front with 55% of the vote.


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Anatoly Bibilov	United Ossetia	17,736	54.80
	Leonid Tibilov	Independent	10,909	33.71
	Alan Gagloyev		3,291	10.17
Against all			429	1.33
Total			32,365	100.00

Valid votes			32,365	95.72
Invalid/blank votes			1,447	4.28
Total votes			33,812	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			42,459	79.63
Source: South Osetia

References[]

^ Fuller, Liz (8 February 2017). "South Ossetia Referendum On Name Change Steers Clear Of Thornier Unification Issue". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
^ ^a ^b Civil Georgia (2017-01-18). "Tskhinvali Sets Date for Presidential Polls". Civil.ge. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Fuller, Liz (9 March 2017). "Former South Ossetian Leader To Appeal Election Ban". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
^ Urs Lenz, Oliver (2017-03-22). "Protests Erupt in South Ossetia as Former President Blocked from Running Again". Eurasianet.org. Retrieved 2017-04-10.

[1] Fuller, Liz (8 February 2017). "South Ossetia Referendum On Name Change Steers Clear Of Thornier Unification Issue". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 19 March 2017.

[Civil_Georgia-2] Civil Georgia (2017-01-18). "Tskhinvali Sets Date for Presidential Polls". Civil.ge. Retrieved 2017-03-15.

[Appeal_Election_Ban-3] Fuller, Liz (9 March 2017). "Former South Ossetian Leader To Appeal Election Ban". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 15 March 2017.

[4] Urs Lenz, Oliver (2017-03-22). "Protests Erupt in South Ossetia as Former President Blocked from Running Again". Eurasianet.org. Retrieved 2017-04-10.

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v t Elections and referendums in South Ossetia
Presidential elections	1996 2001 2006 2011 2012 2017 2022
Parliamentary elections	2004 2009 2014 2019
Referendums	1992 2001 2006 2011 2017

Politics of South Ossetia


Constitution
Executive President of South Ossetia Anatoly Bibilov Prime Minister of South Ossetia Gennady Bekoyev
Legislature Parliament of South Ossetia Chairman Alan Tadtaev Political parties
Elections Recent elections Presidential: 2017 2022 Parliamentary: 2014 2019
Administrative divisions First level: Four Raions Second level: Towns / cities
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