Outgoing leader of South Ossetia, Eduard Kokoity, ruled out the possibility of winning second round of presidential election in the breakaway region by his opponent, a female candidate Alla Jioyeva.

Asked whether he thought it was possible for the woman to become a new leader of the region, Kokoity responded in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio on Monday: “This is ruled out.”

“No one infringes women’s [rights] here. In our society woman are treated very well and they are respected. But anyway, Caucasus is the Caucasus,” said Kokoity, who himself was not eligible to run because he has already served two five-year presidential terms.

In a tight race Jioyeva, a long-time school teacher and former education minister of the breakaway region, won 25.37% of votes in the Sunday’s elections, only few votes short of Anatoly Bibilov, the emergency situations minister, who garnered 25.44% of votes. The two will face each other in the runoff set for November 27.