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South Ossetia’s CEC registers initiative group for referendum on joining Russia

On April 7, the representatives of the action group can start collecting signatures of voters in support of the referendum

TSKHINVAL, April 6. /TASS/. South Ossetia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has registered an initiative group, which brings together 26 public and political figures, to hold a referendum on South Ossetia’s joining Russia, CEC Secretary Kristina Avlokhova told TASS on Wednesday.

"Today the CEC of the Republic of South Ossetia registered an initiative group for holding a referendum on the unification of South Ossetia and Russia," Avlokhova said.

She pointed out that representatives of the initiative group can start collecting signatures in support of the referendum from Thursday, and added that at least 1,000 signatures are to be collected.

The CEC explained that the initiative group’s application submitted to the Central Election Committee includes a question proposed for the referendum, which reads as follows: "Do you support the unification of the Republic of South Ossetia and Russia?"

On Tuesday, Avlokhova told TASS that the CEC had received a request to register an initiative group for holding a referendum on South Ossetia’s accession to Russia. The group has 26 members, who are political and public figures. Among them are four South Ossetian presidents, namely Incumbent President Anatoly Bibilov, former presidents Lyudvig Chibirov, Eduard Kokoity and Leonid Tibilov.

During public debates on Tuesday, Bibilov said that the republic may join Russia as a separate administrative region, and hold a referendum on unifying with the Russian region of North Ossetia once the unification process is complete.

About the referendum

On March 30, South Ossetian President Anatoly Bibilov said his country would take legal steps for joining Russia in the near future.

On August 26, 2008, Russia recognized the sovereignty of South Ossetia and Abkhazia after Georgia’s armed aggression against Tskhinval. Russian leaders have reiterated that the recognition of the two former Georgian autonomous regions reflects the current reality and is not subject to revision. However, Tbilisi refuses to recognize the independence of the republics.

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