Tbilisi condemns occupied Tskhinvali’s involvement in Russian parliamentary elections

By Natalia Kochiashvili

Wednesday, September 22

Moscow-backed Abkhaz leader Bzhania voted at Russian State Duma elections on September 19, while Bibilov, occupied Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia leader cast a ballot 2 days prior.

According to preliminary official data, the ruling United Russia party retains a constitutional majority in the lower house of the legislature (49.79% of the vote). During the 3-day election, footage showing people throwing unnecessary ballots in the ballot boxes circulated on the Internet. The ruling party also used the new electronic voting to its advantage.

The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned the holding of Russian State Duma elections in occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region as ‘another destructive step by Moscow that violates the fundamental norms of international law and completely disregards the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act.’ MFA urged the international community to give a ‘due response’ to the country’s illegal activities in Georgia.

MFA emphasized the fact that the population of Georgia’s occupied region elects majoritarian MPs in Voronezh, Leningrad, Samara districts, and Zabaykalsky Krai, as well as political parties in Russia, clearly points at the ongoing process of de facto annexation of these regions.

Since the 2000s, Russia has carried out illegal, forcible passportization in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali, as well as maintaining the occupation and effective control over these regions, preventing hundreds of thousands of IDPs and refugees from returning home. The ministry emphasizes that a recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights shifted all responsibility on Russia for human rights violations in the regions, underlining that ‘Russia is exercising effective control’ on Abkhazia and Tskhinvali.

“Holding any elections on the ground, especially for composing the legislature of the occupying state, is illegal and will unlikely bring any legal outcome.“

In occupied Abkhazia, 9 voting stations have been opened for Russian State Duma elections, whereas in the Tskhinvali Region, 10 polling stations have been established. Russian occupying soldiers and officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) were also entitled to vote. According to preliminary assessments, more than 25,000 people from Georgia's Tskhinvali and Abkhazia areas voted in the Russian elections.

Tskhinvali-based RES news agency said the Russian Central Election Commission attached residents of South Ossetia with Russian citizenship to the Trans-Baikal Territory, to the Chita constituency in faraway Siberia.

Tbilisi also condemned an agreement signed between Russia and Tskhinvali ‘on dual citizenship’ on September 20, which allows the residents of Tskhinvali to receive Russian citizenship without losing ‘South Ossetian’ citizenship.

The document, greenlighted by the Russian President in August, permits citizens of one side to acquire the citizenship of the other without relinquishing their papers and simplifies the process of obtaining Russian nationality for South Ossetians. Tskhinvali or Moscow might choose to give these advantages to a dual citizen who lives in the other party's jurisdiction.

The agreement enters into force after being ratified and will be valid for 5 years and automatically renewed. The termination of the document does not entail the termination of citizenship of either party.

Russian citizens voted for the State Duma for a 5-year term, as the Kremlin's most outspoken critics were barred from participating in elections. With 99% of ballots counted, the pro-Putin United Russia party received nearly 50%, followed by the Communist Party with 19.2%, Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s the Liberal Democratic Party 7.48%, A Just Russia – Patriots – For Truth – 7.43%, and New People – 5.4%. For the first time since 1993, OSCE did not send observers to Russia citing limitations from the Russian authorities.

Following the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia, Russia recognized Abkhazia and Tskhinvali as independent states. Only Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Syria have joined Russia in recognition since then, while the rest of the international community has urged it to leave Georgian territories.

Recall that recently, on September 19, the Syrian Arab Republic delegation headed by Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Mohammad Akram al-Ajlani visited occupied Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia, hosted by Kremlin-backed leader Anatoly Bibilov for ‘republic day’ celebrations on September 19.