Experts assume connection of raised issue of South Ossetia's accession into Russia and upcoming elections

Experts associate the initiative to hold in South Ossetia a referendum on reunion with North Ossetia with the upcoming parliamentary elections to be held in summer and the lack of fresh ideas in the political space of the republic. However, Anatoly Bibilov, an initiator of the idea, the leader of the "United Ossetia" Party, insists on the relevance of the issue, regardless of the geopolitical situation.

On January 6, the "United Ossetia" Party appealed to Leonid Tibilov, President of South Ossetia, calling him to hold a referendum on the reunion of North and South Ossetia as parts of Russia. Dmitry Medoev, Ambassador of South Ossetia to Russia, has stated that the South Ossetian authorities do not support the initiative.

Taimuraz Mamsurov, Special Presidential Envoy for South Ossetia, the leader of North Ossetia-Alania, treats the issue of South Ossetia's joining to North Ossetia as a "pre-election rhetoric."

He has advised politicians of South Ossetia to give substance to the term of "independent state" and not to hold referendums, "jumping over historical stages and without solving any problems at the infancy stage."

Blogger Alexei Pukhaev, a native of Tskhinvali, who at present works in Moscow, treats as obsolete the old platform of the South Ossetia's policy with the idea of annexation to the Russian Federation. He believes that instead of the above obsolete policy, the South Ossetia's authorities should offer an ambitious plan for the development of the sovereign state.

Evgeny Krutikov, a Russian journalist, who in the early 1990s worked as Assistant to the Prime Minister of South Ossetia, is convinced of the political motives of the proposal made by Anatoly Bibilov, the leader of the "United Ossetia" Party. The journalist believes the above initiative has no perspectives in the strategic plan.