Alan Eduardovich Gagloev (Ossetian: Гаглойты Эдуарды фырт Алан, romanized: Gaglojty Edwardy fyrt Alan; Russian: Алан Эдуардович Гаглоев; born 6 February 1981), also transliterated as Gagloyev, is a South Ossetian politician and former intelligence officer, who is the fifth and current president of South Ossetia since 2022.[1][2] He also served as chairman of the Nykhaz party from 2020 to 2023.[3]
Early life
Alan Gagloev was born on 6 February 1981, in Tskhinvali.[3] He graduated from the South Ossetian State University in 2002[3] and was hired by the Ministry of Economic Development of South Ossetia as the chief specialist of the department for supporting small and medium-sized businesses.[4]
He fought in the Russo-Georgian War in 2008.[3] During the war, Gagloev's family "suffered heavy losses".[5]
He ran unsuccessfully for president of South Ossetia in 2017, losing to Anatoly Bibilov.[6] After his loss, he announced the creation of his own political party, the Alanian Union in September 2017. However, in May 2018, the South Ossetian Ministry of Justice refused to register the party. In January 2019, the Alanian Union joined New Ossetia who merged with the party Nykhaz. Gagloev went on to be elected chairman of Nykhaz in February 2020.[3]
Gagloev ran for president a second time in the 2022 election. On 10 April 2022, he won the first round with 36.9% of the vote, passing incumbent president Anatoly Bibilov.[7] Prior to the run-off, Gagloev received endorsements from the three candidates eliminated in the first round, Alexandr Pliyev, Garri Muldarov, and Dmitry Tasoyev, heading into the runoff against Bibilov.[8] Bibilov had been endorsed by United Russia, the ruling party of Russia.[9]
Gagloev defeated Bibilov in the run-off with 56.08% of the vote on 8 May 2022.[1]
Bibilov admitted defeat in the elections, congratulated Gagloev and wished him "successful work for the good of the people".[10]
Presidency
Following his election, he was sworn in as the new president on 24 May 2022.[11] Domestically, Gagloev said the main issue of his presidency would be taking steps to improve the economy.[12]Zita Besayeva was elected to replace him as leader of Nykhaz in February 2023.[13]
Gagloev was seen by observers as being less supportive of holding a referendum to join Russia, saying that Russia was "still busy with other issues," in reference to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[14][15] The Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov further stated on 24 May that in regards to the referendum, "No steps are being taken or planned by the Russian side connected with this."[12] On 30 May 2022, he suspended the referendum called by his predecessor Bibilov until consultations with Russia are complete.[16]
On 12 August 2022, Gagloev dismissed defense minister Vladimir Pukhaev due to an incident on 23 July 2022, which involved masked servicemen of the defense minister assaulting civilians in various locations throughout the region.[17] Gagloev would assert his "supreme authority" over the armed forces after these events.[18] This is after his predecessor had allowed parts of the South Ossetian military to be under the authority of the Russian army, as well as a large desertion by South Ossetians in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[19][20] During the early parts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, tens of thousands of Russians fled the country to South Ossetia to avoid being drafted. Gagloev's government cooperated with Russian authorities to create screening centers on the border to make sure the drafted or eligible for the draft don't get into the country. However, the policy was ended in October 2022 after only 120 draft dodgers where caught, of an estimated immigrant population of 78,000.[21]
On March 12, 2023, Gagloev personally awarded Ramzan Kadyrov's daughter Aishat Kadyrova, the South Ossetian Order of Friendship, stating that she had worked tirelessly to improve bilateral relations with Chechnya and South Ossetia.[22]
Relations with Georgia
While still campaigning, Gagloev visited the Akhalgori Municipality, which has a substantial Georgian population, and urged support for allowing residents to travel to Georgia more freely. This had previously not been possible without medical documentation, and was further complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. After assuming office, Gagloev received criticism from Russian news anchor Sergey Karnaukhov for dismissing the referendum to join Russia as well as supporting easier travel to Georgia, accusing him of being an American and Georgian asset.[23] The governments of both Georgia and South Ossetia denied these claims. Beginning in August 2022, South Ossetia announced it would open checkpoints with Georgia from the 20th to the 30th of each month.[24] Gagloev was subject to another scandal when he appointed Anatoly Pliyev as the Secretary of the Security Council when it was revealed that Pliyev had met with Ilia II of Georgia, which had been denounced by prior South Ossetian governments as “the ideologist of Georgian fascism” who “blessed Georgians to kill Ossetians.” However, this also caused tension in Georgia, as Georgian businessman, Gocha Dzasokhashvili, who previously headed the Assembly of the Peoples of Georgia in Russia, brokered the meeting between Pliyev and Ilia.[25]
Domestic policy
After spending his entire political career up to his election as an opposition figure against the repressive government of Anatoly Bibilov, who used his office of president to crush political dissident and shut down opposition parties, including Gagloev's own Alanian Union, Gagloev is now using his power as president to target Bibilov and his supporters ahead of the 2024 elections.[26] Oleg Gagloev, Alan Gagloev's minister of justice, stated that Bibilov's party, United Ossetia, might be suspended due to failing to properly fill out campaign finance forms at the end of 2022 after multiple warnings. United Ossetia's chairman, and speaker of Parliament Alan Tadtaev, called the threats "stupid" as suspending United Ossetia would cause a governmental collapse as United Ossetia has 14 of the 34 seats in Parliament.[27] Tadtaev would be pressured to resign as speaker shortly after and was replaced by Alan Alborov, a member of Gagloev's Nykhaz.[28]
As part of his presidential campaign, Alan Gagloev promised a pay increase to transportation and hospital workers. However, once in office, these pay raises never came. The government cited an overall downturn in the South Ossetian economy as it seeks fiscal independence, however, Gagloev's opposition claims that he's pocketing the money to use in the 2024 elections as a campaign chest.[29]
Gagloev named Konstantin Dzhussoev, who holds a monopoly on South Ossetia's construction industry, as his Prime Minister who has no experience with either politics or working in government. This has led to concerns about conflicts of interest with government funds for construction. Additionally, Dzhussoev's relationship to Albert Dzhussoev, one of the wealthiest men in the republic, has drawn criticism.[25] Gagloev appointed Valery Gazzaev as his minister of Internal Affairs, an "experienced” and “professional” former head of the security department who has worked in law enforcement since 1997 and is one of the few members of the cabinet without family relationships to Gagloev.[25] However, Gagloev named a relative, Oleg Gagloev, as his minister of justice who was formerly Anatoly Bibilov's chief of staff, but was fired in 2020. In 2021 Bibilov's government opened a corruption investigation into Oleg and Landa Abaeva, the head of accounting at the time, for five million missing roubles, however, after going in exile in Russia, in two months the Tskhinvali City Court ruled the investigation to be politically motivated and illegal.[25] Alan Dzhioev has been appointed Gagloev's head of presidential administration who had previously been a judge of the constitutional court under Leonid Tibilov, however, he is Gagloev's son-in-law. There where also concerns due to his relationship with Arsen Gagloev, Alan's brother, who fled to Russia in 2011 and is a Gazprom executive.[25] The aforementioned Anatoly Pliyev was named minister of the security council, and one of his first acts was dismissing the head of the State Security Committee, Major General Vladimir Khubaev, and his deputy Vasily Guliyev without giving a reason and named his close personal friend Alexander Tuaev as the new chairman.[25]
Gagloev has also dismissed all four district heads, meaning that South Ossetia's devolved local governments have not been functioning since he took power.[25]
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