2017 South Ossetian presidential election

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Turnout	79.63%
Nominee Anatoly Bibilov Leonid Tibilov Alan Gagloev Party United Ossetia Independent Independent Popular vote 17,736 10,909 3,291 Percentage 54.80% 33.71% 10.17%
President before election Leonid Tibilov Independent Elected President Anatoly Bibilov United Ossetia

Politics of South Ossetia
Constitution
Executive President of South Ossetia Alan Gagloev Prime Minister of South Ossetia Konstantin Dzhussoev
Legislature Parliament of South Ossetia Chairman Alan Tadtaev Political parties
Elections Recent elections Presidential: 2017 2022 Parliamentary: 2014 2019
Administrative divisions First level: Four Raions Second level: Towns / cities
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Dmitry Medoyev International recognition Provisional Administration of South Ossetia Politics of Georgia Georgian–Ossetian conflict Proposed Russian annexation of South Ossetia Passport Visa requirements Visa policy Diplomatic missions of / in South Ossetia
Other countries
v t e

Presidential elections were held in South Ossetia on 9 April 2017 alongside a referendum on changing the official name of the state to "Republic of South Ossetia–the State of Alania", or "South Ossetia–Alania" for short.^[1] Incumbent President Leonid Tibilov ran for a second and final term in office,^[2] but was defeated by Anatoly Bibilov of the United Ossetia party.

Background

The date was set by Parliament on 18 January 2017.^[2]

Candidates

• Leonid Tibilov, President of South Ossetia since 2012^[3]
• Anatoly Bibilov, Speaker of Parliament^[3]
• Alan Gagloev, former KGB officer^[3]

Disqualified candidates

• Eduard Kokoity, President of South Ossetia from 2001 until 2011. His candidacy was rejected due to the Central Electoral Commission finding that he did not meet the residency requirements; a candidate must live in South Ossetia for at least nine months of the year in the ten years preceding an election.^[3] The decision to disqualify Kokoity led to several protests in Tskhinvali, though the decision was not amended.^[4]
• Amiran Bagayev, construction company owner^[3]
• Alexander Pliyev, deputy speaker of Parliament^[5]
• Ruslan Gagloyev, member of parliament, leader of Nykhaz^[5]
• Garry Muldarov, member of parliament^[5]
• Dmitry Tasoyev, former member of parliament^[5]

Opinion polls

Results

The final result had Bibilov well out in front with 55% of the vote.