Opposition Ends Street Protest in Tskhinvali
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 12 Dec.'11 / 01:12

An agreement between opposition leader Alla Jioyeva and ex-leader of breakaway South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity was on the verge of collapse after Jioyeva, angered by Kokoity's last-minute appointments, threatened late on Saturday to withdraw from the deal and continue street protests.

The controversy, which also triggered some disagreements within Jioyeva's key allies, was resolved on Sunday.

Just before resignation on Saturday, Kokoity made several new appointments in the cabinet and also appointed two members of constitutional court - one of them was Eldar Kokoev, who had to resign from his previous post of deputy chief prosecutor as part of the deal between Jioyeva and Kokoity.

"Kokoity has formed a constitutional court, which has not existed for ten years, in ten seconds. He has also made several other appointments, which contradicts the provisions of the agreement, so I reserve the right to withdraw my signature," Jioyeva said late on Saturday.

Jioyeva also complained that resignation of chief prosecutor and chairman of supreme court - also part of the deal - was not yet approved by the Parliament. The breakaway region's legislative body is expected to approve these resignations at the session on December 12.

Opposition supporters kept rallying on Tskhinvali's central square overnight on Sunday, prompting administration of PM, Vadim Brovtsev, who assumed acting president's duties as part of the deal, to accuse the opposition of a failure to meet its commitment under the agreement and stop street protests.

Alla Jioyeva was negotiating with her key allies for several hours on Sunday discussing opposition's future tactic. Some of her supporters, including breakaway region's ex-defense minister and former secretary of national security council, Anatoly Barankevich, publicly stated that they were strongly against of withdrawal from the deal. Jioyeva soften stance and later on Sunday afternoon she told protesters that the provisions of the deal were observed and called for ending street protests. She, however, also said that full compliance with the agreement would occur only when the Parliament approves resignations of chief prosecutor and chairman of supreme court. According to the reports from Tskhinvali, on Sunday evening opposition supporters started removing tents from the protest venue.

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