South Ossetian President steps down

After a deal struck following the election turmoil in the Caucasus state of South Ossetia, President Eduard Kokoity is set to step down in just a few hours' time, RT reports. The opposition pledges to end protests after that.

Current South Ossetian Prime Minister Vadim Brovtsev will be acting President until March 25, when a new election is due to be held. This time, opposition leader and former candidate Alla Dzhioeva – who had been banned from running – will be allowed to participate.
Kokoity’s exit from office comes as part of an agreement struck Friday between the government and the opposition to end a two-week political deadlock that followed recent elections. Both Kokoity, who has ruled South Ossetia since 2001, and Dzhioeva signed on to the arrangement.
The decision is being seen as a breakthrough, as RT’s Maria Finoshina reports from the capital, Tskhinval. The situation has been extremely tense in the recent days, so Kokoity’s decision came as a relief for many.

After Dzhioeva, a 62-year-old former education minister, won the November presidential election, another candidate, Anatoly Bibilov, applied to the Supreme Court of South Ossetia accusing Dzhioeva's team of violations during the vote. The court ordered the election results be annulled, effectively banning Dzhioeva from taking part in the next election. In turn, Dzhioeva submitted her own complaint to the Court, declaring herself to be the true president-elect.

She was not alone – hundreds of her supporters took to the streets of Tskhinval protesting the court’s decision. There have been ongoing negotiations between the conflicting sides since, with Russia acting as mediator. As it became more complicated, fears grew that the situation could turn violent. But Kokoity pledged that attempts to destabilize the country's political life would be suppressed by whatever means necessary, including military. In the end, a compromise decision was adopted.