Kokoity vows to keep his word amid demands of his third term re-election

The de facto South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity who has repeatedly stated that he will not run for the third “presidential” term, has condemned Wednesday’s incident in Tskhinvali when a group of about 200 men entered the de facto Parliament building demanding the lawmakers to discuss making changes to the “constitution” which would enable the “president” to run for a third term.

A day earlier the de facto South Ossetian Supreme Court ruled that holding a referendum on whether a person should be given the right to run for a third presidential term is unconstitutional. A group of people, which had initiated the idea of holding a referendum, headed by two de facto Deputy Defence Ministers – Ibragim Gaseev and Igor Alborov, as well as the head of the de facto South Ossetian state security service, Genady Kokoev, entered the de facto Parliament building while the lawmakers were holding a plenary session.

According to Russian media outlets, the group demanded that de facto PMs discuss making changes to the constitution. De facto MPs first refused to discuss the issue citing Parliament regulations as a reason. However the group refused to leave the de facto Parliament building and did not let the MPs out of the building as well, according to Russian newspapers. Vzglyad newspaper reports that the initiative group members managed to get 12 signatures from the de facto MPs. So, the de facto South Ossetian Parliament will discuss the issue of making amendments to the constitution in the nearest future, according to the newspaper.

“We live in a democratic state and any kinds of social-political initiatives should be put forward in frames of the current constitution,” said the de facto President Kokoity whose second “presidential” term expires in November 2011. He called on the investigators to pay “special attention” on the role of the “authorities” who had tried to “influence” the decision of the de facto Parliament.

“All illegal forms of influence on MPs should be strictly eliminated,” the de facto President said “such expressions of people’s love towards the president and support towards his course create only excessive tension in various parts of the society and lead to destabilization of the situation,” Kokoity stated, adding that there will be “no third term.” “I will not take my words back;” the de facto President told reporters “Presidential elections will take place in November with a strict compliance to the legislation. The situation in the Republic remains stable and under control,” he added.

Earlier last week Kokoity said that he will not run for presidency regardless of the court's decision. He has reiterated his position, voiced earlier in May. Speaking to the information agency RES, Kokoity commented on the information disseminated by various media outlets about an initiative to hold a referendum on giving one more term to the de facto President. “I remain devoted to my words and I am not going to raise my candidacy for the third presidential term at the upcoming elections,” Kokoity noted “I will not let anyone to violate constitution. The transition of power will be held strictly within the legislative dates,” he added.

Tbilisi considers elections in Georgia’s breakaway region as “illegitimate.”