In the Shadow of Russian Unrest, South Ossetia Protests Continue

With all revolution-chasers focused on Russia's post-election turmoil, the prospects of a mini-revolution in the neighboring breakaway region of South Ossetia, a Russian protectorate, have gotten little international spotlight. But the enclave that Moscow vowed to love and cherish as a sovereign state after Russia's 2008 war with Georgia is in trouble and things may still get ugly.

Faced with calls to step down, the de facto president, Eduard Kokoity, has looked around his cabinet for possible scapegoats and found some. On December 7, he fired several high-ranking officials, including the de facto minister of education and the mayor of the capital, Tskhinvali, as an apparent sop to the protesters. More heads will roll soon, he claimed.

The leader of the anti-(de-facto)-government demonstration, Alla Jioyeva, welcomed the move, but still demands that Kokoity let her replace him as South Ossetia's de facto elected president. Jioyeva claims that the Kokoity regime stole her victory in the presidential polls by canceling the results of a November 27 runoff.

But perhaps some sign of a mini-mini-breakthrough? After initially dismissing the Kremlin's troubleshooter,envoy Sergei Vinokurov, as biased toward her rival, Anatoliy Bibilov, Jioyeva on December 7 declared that "We have been heard." What exactly that means is unknown, however.  Meanwhile, amid the ongoing standoff, a rift is appearing within the establishment. Two de facto deputy speakers of South Ossetia’s miniature, 34-seat parliament demanded that Kokoity step down as president and temporarily transfer his powers to the de facto prime minister, Vadim Brovtsev. One of the men, Yuri Dzitsoity, is a member of Kokoity’s Unity Party, but said in an interview that Jioyeva won the presidency by right and that Kokoity needs to let go of power.

Whether or not such strong political headwinds contributed to a December 6 decision to close the breakaway region's de facto border with Russia is open to conjecture (snow is the official reason), but some Russia-based news services seem inclined to believe that the brewing crisis is the real cause.

Nonetheless, protester hope is still holding on. Following her latest talks with the Russian envoy, Jioyeva promised her supporters good news soon. No doubt, the tired residents of Tskhinvali could definitely use some.