| Election Name: | 2009 South Ossetian parliamentary election |
| Country: | South Ossetia |
| Previous Election: | 2004 |
| Next Election: | 2014 |
| Election Date: | 31 May 2009 |
| Seats For Election: | 34 seats in the Parliament |
| Majority Seats: | 18 |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Party1: | Unity Party (South Ossetia) |
| Leader1: | Aslanbek Bulatsev |
| Percentage1: | 47.53 |
| Seats1: | 17 |
| Last Election1: | 20 |
| Party2: | People's Party of South Ossetia |
| Leader2: | Kazimir Pliyev |
| Percentage2: | 23.14 |
| Seats2: | 9 |
| Party3: | HIKP |
| Colour3: |
|
| Leader3: | Stanislav Kochiev |
| Percentage3: | 22.80 |
| Seats3: | 8 |
| Prime Minister | |
| Before Election: | Aslanbek Bulatsev |
| Before Party: | Unity Party (South Ossetia) |
| After Election: | Aslanbek Bulatsev |
| After Party: | Unity Party (South Ossetia) |
Parliamentary elections were held in South Ossetia on 31 May 2009. The result was a victory for the ruling Unity Party, which won seventeen of the 34 seats. Two opposition parties were not permitted to run out of concern that they might not be loyal to President Eduard Kokoity.[1] [2]
Under laws of Georgia, the elections were illegal.
The European Union,[3] [4] [5] the United States,[6] and NATO[7] have issued statements saying these organisations consider the elections illegal, and have rejected their results.
The Republic of South Ossetia has a population of about 70,000. It has had de facto independence from central Georgian rule since the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War. After the August 2008 South Ossetia war, Russia recognized the independence of South Ossetia, followed by Nicaragua. Other countries, including Georgia, consider South Ossetia part of Georgia's constitutional territory.[8]
Four parties were contesting for 34 seats in the Parliament of South Ossetia. According to the central election commission, 45,000 people were registered to vote on Sunday.[9] This was the first South Ossetian election since the republic obtained its limited international recognition in 2008.About 100 Russian and international reporters arrived in South Ossetia to cover the event.[10] Voters were able to cast ballots at 95 polling stations, 88 in South Ossetia and 7 in Russia (6 of them opened in North Ossetia and 1 in Moscow). No other overseas polling stations were open.[11]
The election was conducted using the party-list proportional representation system with a 7% election threshold. For South Ossetian authorities to consider the election valid, the voter turnout would have been at least 50% + 1 vote, and at least two parties would have acquired securing seats in the parliament. If these criteria hadn't been fulfilled, the South Ossetian legislation provided for a repeat election in four months.[12]
The following parties participated in the election:[13]
The Unity Party is the ruling party in the current parliament. According to Reuters, Unity, Communists, and the People's party support the current President Eduard Kokoity, while the Fatherland Socialist Party opposes him.[14] Two opposition parties were barred from running.
| Date | Institute | Unity | Communist | People's | FSP | Against all | Undecided | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 March 2009 | IA "Res" | 22% | 32% | 16% | 22% | 8% | n/a | |
| 21 April 2009 | IA "Res" | 19% | 29% | 14% | 19% | 19% | n/a | |
| 26 April–15 May 2009 | IA "Res" | 31.6% | 12.8% | 7.0% | 7.2% | 19.0% | 22.0% |
As of 10:00 UTC, 59.88% of registered voters had cast their votes, crossing the electoral threshold of 50% plus one vote. The South Ossetian election commission has thus declared the elections valid.
According to the preliminary results, the Unity Party has obtained the most votes with 46.38% of the vote, followed by People's Party with 22.58% and the Communists with 22.25%, thus securing 17, 9 and 8 parliament seats respectively, while the Fatherland Socialist Party fell just short of passing the 7% threshold with only 6.37%.[15] The official results were expected by June 7.
According to the final results, the Unity Party won 17 seats with 21,246 votes, the People's Party won nine seats with 10,345 votes and the Communist Party won eight seats with 10,194 votes.