Parliamentary elections were held in

South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...

in March 1994. They were the first and only elections to the State Nykhas, the legislature of the partially recognized South Caucasian territory which most of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

recognised as part of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

under illegal occupation by

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n forces. The elections were the first since the South Ossetian war from 1991 to 1992.

Background

South Ossetia in the 1990s has been described by pundits and journalists as a "land forgotten by time" clinging to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and the practice of

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

despite the wider region abandoning the political system. Since South Ossetia's ''de facto'' independence in 1991 during the South Ossetia War the dominant political party was the

Communist Party of South Ossetia The Communist Party of the Republic of South Ossetia (; ka, სამხრეთ ოსეთის კომუნისტური პარტია, tr; ) is a communist party in South Ossetia. The party was founded in 1993. As of 2004, t ...

which supported a staunch preservation of the Soviet way of life. The other political faction consisted of independent members of the South Ossetian Supreme Soviet who abandoned the Communist Party to focus on domestic issues and

Ossetian nationalism Ossetian nationalism is Ethnic nationalism, ethnic nationalist ideology promoting Ossetians, Ossetian national identity, the Ossetian language and Ossetian culture, culture. History Ossetian National myth, national mythology traces the Ossetia ...

. In September 1993 Ludvig Chibirov, a colleague of

North Ossetia North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

n leader

Akhsarbek Galazov Akhsarbek Khadzhimurzayevich Galazov (; ; October 15, 1929 – April 10, 2013) was a Russian scientist and politician. Galazov was born in Pravoberezhny District, at the time part of the Soviet Union. He served as president of the Republic of ...

, was elected head of state. The initial constitution of South Ossetia did not have a formal head of state position, with the head of state instead being the

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the South Ossetian Supreme Soviet. Chibirov, an independent, changed the name of the Supreme Soviet to the State Nykhas (Council of Elders), with the first elections to the newly renamed body being held in March 1994.

Results

The elections saw the Communist Party win 19 of the 36 seats with 47.2% of the vote, with the remaining seats being won by independents.

Aftermath

Despite Chibirov's independents not securing a majority, he would be re-elected to his Chairmanship and one of his first actions was welcoming the Georgian-Russian peacekeeping force, the Joint Peacekeeping Force (JPKF) to occupy South Ossetia.

Notes

References

{{South Ossetian elections Elections in South Ossetia

Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...