Controversy
On 11 September 2008 Kokoity stated that independent South Ossetia would eventually become part of the Russian Federation, a claim that was quickly denied by Russian officials and shortly thereafter retracted by Kokoity. Kokoity is a Eurasianist and argues that South Ossetia never left the Russian Empire.
Since December 2008, Kokoity's former allies have subjected him to heavy criticism in a series of interviews with the Russian media. Kokoity's erstwhile insider and the Russia-based businessman Albert Dzhussoyev accused the Kokoity administration of hijacking Russian funds meant for South Ossetia and claimed the region was on the brink of a "social catastrophe". Similar charges have been brought by South Ossetia's former defense minister Anatoly Barankevich and prime minister Yury Morozov. Barankevich further claimed that Kokoity had fled Tskhinvali during the 2008 South Ossetia War and accused him of personally torturing a captured Georgian soldier. South Ossetia's former interior minister and chair of the supreme court, Alan Parastayev, told the Georgian Imedi TV that Kokoity had organized a series of terrorist attacks and ordered murders for which he blamed Georgia. Representatives of the Kokoity administration dismissed the allegations, claiming these allegations were part of a plot against Kokoity.
On 3 March 2009, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that Kokoity's administration and the Kremlin were at odds over the control of aid funds allocated from Russia's federal budget to South Ossetia and Tskhinvali was at the verge of "social explosion". In May 2009, Albert Dzhussoyev and Dzhabulat Tadeyev (brother of the murdered Ibragim Tadeyev) announced they would seek to organize early presidential elections in order to remove Kokoity whom they accused of authoritarianism, corruption and being "unreliable" for Russia. The first attempt at organizing an Ossetian opposition rally in Moscow was dispersed by the Russian OMON.
In spring 2010, Kokoity again received lots of criticism, mostly regarding the use of Russian aid. An opinion poll held by the International Center of Political Analysis (MTsPA) showed an approval rating for Kokoity of 12.4%, with 66.3% of respondents having a negative opinion. Kosta Dzugaev, an advisor to Kokoity, immediately blasted the poll as "lies", claiming the MTsPA had never actually done any research in South Ossetia. The MTsPA has been linked to Prime Minister Vadim Brovtsev, who is himself under attack for mismanaging Russian funds.
Read more about this topic: Eduard Kokoity
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