Georgia's separatist South Ossetia province held a parliamentary election today that was expected to strengthen the Moscow-friendly leader's hold on power in the Russian-backed region.
Officials said early turnout was strong in South Ossetia's first election since the August war that pitted Russian forces against Georgian troops.
Russia routed Georgia's military and recognized South Ossetia as an independent country, but Nicaragua is the only nation that has followed suit.
Critics of South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity claim he stifles dissent and intimidates challengers with threats of violence. They say money for restoring infrastructure destroyed in the five-day war has disappeared, and called for a boycott of the elections to fill the 34-seat legislature.
The opposition also claims Kokoity, 44, is seeking a landslide victory for his party to minimize resistance to constitutional changes that would strengthen his grip on power.
Russia has stationed thousands of troops in the mountainous region of 70,000 people a few dozen kilometres north of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.
Russia has also strengthened its grip over Abkhazia, another separatist region in Georgia, and recognized its independence claims after last year's war.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili is still feeling the political effects of the war, in which Georgia's military was crushed. His opponents, who complain Georgia was deprived of one-third of its territory as a result of an impulsive military campaign, have been conducting daily rallies for weeks Tbilisi to demand his resignation.
