TSKHINVAL, April 10. /TASS/. South Ossetia’s incumbent President Anatoly Bibilov and leader of the Nykhas party Alan Gagloyev are likely to face each other in the runoff presidential polls, Alexander Pliyev, another candidate for South Ossetian president, said on Sunday after counting votes at 15% of polling stations.
"According to the data from 15% of polling stations, we will have a runoff vote," he said, adding that Bibilov and Gagloyev are leading Sunday’s elections.
He also called on his voters to support Gagloyev in the runoff elections.
On Sunday, South Ossetia held presidential elections. The voting was recognized valid, with the voter turnout standing at 82.07%
Incumbent President Anatoly Bibilov, deputy speaker of parliament Alexander Pliyev, leader of the Nykhas political party Alan Gagloyev, lawmaker Garri Muldarov, and former lawmaker Dmitry Tasoyev are vying for the presidential office.
The winning candidate is to score more than half of votes. If neither of the candidates manage to win the necessary number of votes, the runoff election is organized in a span of two weeks. Two candidates with the biggest number of votes make it to the second round of voting. The winner is the one who has a simple majority of votes. The runoff polling is recognized valid if 30% of eligible voters take part.