Parliament of South Ossetia Парламент Южной Осетии Хуссар Ирыстоны Парламент | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
First vice-speaker | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 34 |
 | |
Political groups | Government (15)Opposition (13)
|
| Elections | |
Parallel voting:
| |
Last election | 9 June 2024 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Tskhinvali | |
| Website | |
| www | |
TheParliament of South Ossetia is theunicamerallegislature of the partially recognizedRepublic of South Ossetia. The 34 members of parliament are elected using a mixed system ofParty-list proportional representation (17) andSingle-member district (17). South Ossetia has amulti-party system, and currently 5political parties are represented in parliament and has 6 independent MPs elected through single-member districts. The parliament is headed by aspeaker, who is elected from among the members. Since 15 September 2022 the speaker of parliament isAlan Alborov, one of the four deputees of theNykhaz party of presidentAlan Gagloev, afterAlan Tadtaev ofUnited Ossetia was forced to resign.[1][2]
The parliament of South Ossetia meets in the capitalTskhinvali. The parliament building was built in 1937 as the Soviet of theSouth Ossetian Autonomous Oblast.[3]
On 10 November 1989, the Soviet of the South Ossetian AO requested theSoviet Union elevate the AO into anAutonomous Soviet Socialist Republics. This resulted in the "War of Laws", a period of intense legal debates between officials from the South Ossetian AO theGeorgian SSR and the USSR which would turn intoopen warfare between Georgian and Ossetian militias and theSoviet Army near the end of 1990.[4]
During theRusso-Georgian war of 2008 the building, and its neighboring administrative complex, was shelled by artillery by theGeorgian Army. After initially denying that they targeted the building, Georgian chief of staff,Zaza Gogava, issued a statement that the parliament building, and its nearby offices, were holding various South Ossetian militia's headquarters, and that the artillery hit no civilian targets.Human Rights Watch and theRed Cross both noted the incident as a potential violation of article 8 of theRome Statute, however, if there were South Ossetian militants in the building, it would not be a war crime.[5][6][7]
Following the war, Parliament and the area around it, including Tskhinvali'sJewish quarter, were largely demolished and rebuilt as a new model city by Russian officials.[8]
Since 2020, three opposition parties,Nykhaz, thePeople's Party andUnity of the People entered a coalition. After the2022 South Ossetian presidential election saw Nykhaz'sAlan Gagloev win thePresidency, this opposition coalition becoming the governing minority government. This has resulted in gridlock and ahung parliament due toUnited Ossetia's opposition to the government.
Following the 2024 election, where Nykhaz won 10 direct seats, and the support of 3 independents, their coalition with the People's Party was preserved, with the Communist Party also announcing their support of the government, bringing the coalition to an outright majority of 21.
