By Vestnik Kavkaza
It is less than a month before the parliamentary elections in South Ossetia. Nine parties will take part in the elections: United Ossetia headed by Anatoly Bibilov; Unity of the People headed by Vladimir Kelekhsayev; Unity of Zurab Kokoyev; the Communist Party is headed by Stanislav Kochiyev; the People’s Party headed by Alexander Pliyev; New Ossetia and its leader David Sanakoyev; Nykhas of Alan Alborov; Motherland headed by Dombai Goassiyev; and Fydybasta of Vyacheslav Gobozov.
United Ossetia is the most popular party, according to a public opinion poll conducted by the media center “Ir” among residents of the capital on April 28th to May 9th. 35.4% of respondents are ready to vote for it. Second place is taken by New Ossetia (25.8%), third place is taken by the Communist Party (8.7%), Nykhas (7%), Unity of the People (6.7%), the People’s Party (5.8%), Unity (5.5%), Fydybysta (4.2%) and Motherland (0.9%).
Experts explain the big margins of Bibilov and Sanakoyev’s parties by the fact that United Ossetia and New Ossetia are campaigning most actively. I don't mean declarations, but certain things which are demanded by the young republic. Anatoly Bibilov stated at the campaign debate that it is necessary to harmonize the laws of South Ossetia and the Constitution of the republic, as many acting norms and laws contradict the Constitution today. David Sanakoyev paid attention to the problem of unemployment and noted that many young people who graduated from prestigious Russian universities couldn’t find a job in South Ossetia and had to leave the republic.
Programs of both parties are targeted at settling urgent problems of society. It is suggested that people should play a bigger role in state management through referendums on improvement of the political system and acute matters of state property; strict parliamentary control should be established over construction and reconstruction of buildings and roads and the activities of the law-enforcement agencies.
The struggle against corruption is suggested to be one of the main directions of the work of the new parliament – to increase responsibility for corruption crimes and intensify cooperation with Russian law-enforcement agencies.
In general, the parties which participate in the elections have similar programs, but the programs of United Ossetia and New Ossetia are more detailed. All the parties are oriented toward strengthening ties with Russia; and Moscow is also interested in a calm and stable election campaign in the neighboring state. Of course there will be competition at the elections, but there's no doubt that they will take place in peace, fairly and transparently. The election campaign is being held calmly at the moment, and the majority of experts believe it is connected with the growth of political culture in South Ossetian society.
