2004 South Ossetian parliamentary election explained

Country:South Ossetia
Previous Election:1999
Next Election:2009
Election Date:23 May 2004
Seats For Election:34 seats in the Parliament
Majority Seats:18
Prime Minister
Before Election:Igor Sanakoyev
Before Party:Unity Party (South Ossetia)
After Election:Igor Sanakoyev
After Party:Unity Party (South Ossetia)

Parliamentary elections were held in South Ossetia on 23 May 2004.

Electoral system

At the time of the election, South Ossetia's parliament had 34 seats, an increase from 33 in 1999. Of these, 15 were elected by party-list proportional representation, 15 were elected by single-member district plurality voting, and four were designated for the Georgian minority who consistently boycotted elections.[1] This election was the last time this system was used, as in the 2009 election, all 34 seats were filled using party-list proportional representation.

Results

As of 13:00 local time, 52% 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.[2]

The election was won by President of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity's Unity Party, which got 9 of the 15 party-list seats (54.6% of all votes), as well as another 11 constituency seats, giving the party a controlling 20-seat majority. Znaur Gassiyev of the Unity Party was elected speaker, replacing Stanislav Kochiev of the Communist Party of South Ossetia. Gassiyev was one of the leaders of the Republic of South Ossetia in its forming days in the early 1990s, and acted as Head of State in 1991.

Notes and References

  1. News: South Ossetian election results published. 2004-05-29. Caucasian Knot. 2009-08-29. ru. https://web.archive.org/web/20110827160604/http://south-osetia.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/56165. 2011-08-27. dead.
  2. News: Elections in South Ossetia declared valid. 2004-05-24. Caucasian Knot. 2009-08-29. ru.