President
Kokoity has taken a strong position against reunification with Georgia, although he has expressed a willingness to negotiate a peace settlement on the basis of South Ossetia being treated as an independent state (a precondition rejected by the Tbilisi government). Following a tense stand-off with the central Georgian government in July 2004, he claimed "Georgia wants war. But we are ready for self-defense." Prior to the 2006 presidential elections, he stated that the Georgian-Ossetian conflict was not an inter-ethnic, but clearly a political one caused by Georgia's desire to impose on Ossetians the norms of Western democracy which could not be superior to the Caucasian traditional laws. He has also criticized the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe mission in the region on several occasions, accusing the organization of bias and likening its activities to " of Georgia's secret services".
He was reelected on 12 November 2006 following the 2006 presidential election. On the same day, Georgian-backed forces organized an alternative election in the territories controlled by Georgia or only loosely controlled by the South Ossetian government. Dmitry Sanakoyev, a former prime minister of South Ossetia, who was sacked by Kokoity in 2001, was elected as a rival president.
On 10 December 2011, he resigned as President of South Ossetia effective 18 December 2001. Prime Minister Vadim Brovtsev is acting president until the presidential election rerun scheduled for 25 March 2012.
Read more about this topic: Eduard Kokoity
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