The second round of the presidential election postponed in South Ossetia

President of the breakaway Republic of Georgia, South Ossetia Anatoly Bibilov attends a press conference after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, in Russia, November 14, 2017. REUTERS / Ivan Sekretarev

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The second round of the election has been canceled and postponed in South Ossetia, a tiny breakaway republic of Georgia.

It should finally be held on April 28.

But Saturday, April 23, this second round was curiously canceled, probably for reasons related to the results of the 1st round, which did not please Moscow.

This small republic in the Caucasus, with less than 50,000 inhabitants, seceded from Georgia after the fall of the USSR and was recognized by Russia at the end of the Russo-Georgian war of 2008.

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With our correspondent in Tbilisi,

Decidedly, it is difficult for South Ossetia to organize this second round.

First fixed for April 24, it was postponed to April 28 by the electoral commission of the

independent republic.

And then, this Saturday, the Supreme Court granted the request of three citizens of the republic, living in Russia, to invalidate the decision of the Election Commission.

Reason: no poll on a working day.

Ridiculous argument.

The reason probably lies in the poor score in the first round of the Kremlin favourite, outgoing President Anatoly Bibilov, who came second with 35% of the vote, against 38% for Alan Gagloev.

Between the two rounds, Bibilov was ostensibly received by Dmitri Kozak, a close collaborator of Vladimir Putin.

The two men reportedly talked about socio-economic programs and management of the republic's budget, against a backdrop of suspicions of corruption by the outgoing president.

This all embraces the Kremlin, as Mr Bibilov recently proposed to hold a referendum for South Ossetia to join the Russian Federation, like the supposedly separatist republics of Ukraine.

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