"Total failure" or "everything will get better"? The first two years of Alan Gagloev's presidency in South Ossetia
Alan Gagloev’s presidency
The second year of Alan Gagloev’s presidency is coming to an end, which many in South Ossetia are already characterizing as a failure.
The leader of the former opposition party Nykhas Alan Gagloev, who came to power in May 2022 under the slogan “Let’s return Ossetia to the people”, is not living up to the expectations of his voters. Loud promises have not been fulfilled. Solution of the problem of customs duties with Russia, gas supply to villages, improvement of welfare of the people – all this remained only on paper. In reality there is a billion-dollar hole in the budget, a food crisis and an unprecedented increase in crime.
Although some believe that things are not so bad.
“Everyone is disappointed with his indifference.”
On condition of anonymity, a presidential administration official agreed to talk to JAMnews. He wanted a change of power in 2022 and voted for Gagloev, but now he is beginning to regret his choice. According to him, Gagloev’s supporters have already begun to move away from him:
Everyone is disappointed by his apathy, indifference. Only those who are personally indebted to him will stay with him.
Among other things, our corespondent believes that Gagloev has “double standards” in ensuring humanitarian rights of South Ossetians: he has introduced preferences for the Georgian population, as opposed to the Ossetian majority. This means that since the summer of 2020 ethnic Georgians have been allowed to cross the dividing line and travel to Georgian-controlled territory.
“Such liberalization for citizens of Georgian nationality causes irritation among the rest of the population. Crossing the border with Georgia, which is hostile to us, has been made easier, while leaving and entering friendly Russia has been made more difficult.
Under these conditions, talks about South Ossetia becoming part of the Russian Federation are resuming. This process was killed by Gagloev immediately after he came to power. He forbade holding a referendum and imposed a taboo on the topic of integration with Russia. Instead, we started a latent integration with Georgia.”
Among the other “sins” of Gagloev, the official lists problems with import of food products from Russia due to increased duties, as well as the president’s aloofness from the people:
“With great difficulty we manage to persuade him to receive citizens. Only a limited circle of relatives who came with him to the authorities have access to him.”
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“We have to make up our minds: either we build a state or become part of Russia”
Amiran Dyakonov, a member of parliament from the “People’s Party”, was a member of the parliamentary opposition from 2020 to 2022, during the rule of the last president Anatoly Bibilov, and sharply criticized the government’s policy.
During the presidential elections of 2022, Dyakonov, as well as his fellow party members, supported the candidacy of Alan Gagloev.
Now Dyakonov no longer counts himself among the supporters of the current president, although he is not ready to write himself down as an oppositionist yet either.
“During the time that Gagloev has been in power, nothing has been done to separate the branches of power. Gagloev said that he was ready to share powers with the parliament, but he did not do it.
All the systemic problems that existed under the previous government remain. These are problems of constitutional nature. We must make up our minds: either we are building a state, or we are part of Russia. And if we are building a democratic state based on the rule of law, the system of checks and balances between the branches of government must work.”
Dyakonov is also dissatisfied with unfulfilled promises on gasification, the crisis in the health care system and the artificial fragmentation of the political field. In the two years of Alan Gagloyev’s presidency, the Justice Ministry has registered seven new political parties led by former supporters of the president. And none of them has yet declared itself a real political force.
“People are living in hopelessness.”
Gagloev was also sharply criticized by Alan Tadtayev, former speaker of parliament and representative of the now opposition United Ossetia party.
“Nothing has been done to further recognize our statehood by the international community. On the contrary, there is distancing even from Russia.
The standard of living of the population has fallen sharply. People live in hopelessness. Prices in stores are astronomical, and purchasing power is minimal. The issue of paying salaries to public sector employees is acute. Jobs are being cut and unemployment has increased.”
He recalls that the hole in the budget is 818 million rubles [about $9 million], and the authorities explain it by the situation in Russia, trying to “shift responsibility for their own mistakes and incompetence to Moscow.”
“Gagloev’s ineffective rule is explained by amateurism, inexperience, and unwillingness to do something useful for the people. The people realized the fallacy of their choice. They realized that they had been deceived, that they had fallen for propaganda.”
And finally, he claims that in Bibilov’s time it was possible to openly criticize the president and the government, but now freedom of speech is severely restricted and “everyone keeps quiet.”
“We wanted change, but not like this.”
Also on condition of anonymity, JAMnews talked to some of Gagloev’s still active supporters. According to them, they voted for him because Gagloev was not “afraid to criticize Bibilov” and knew how to “get the crowd going”
“Many sympathized with him personally because he is an orphan. Because his parents were killed by Georgians during the war. Yes, we were fed up with Bibilov and wanted to change him. People were ready to vote for anyone, as long as it was not for Tolik (Bibilov). It’s just that Gagloev made it to the second round and we went for him. We just wanted changes, but not like this.
At the same time, supporters of Gagloev hope that if “we give Alan time, maybe he will show himself again”.
“There are no more murders in detention centers”
Alan Gagloev’s aide, member of the Public Council of the Prosecutor General’s Office Vladimir Vaneyev, does not agree with any point of criticism of the president. In his opinion, Gagloev has done a lot during his presidency. In particular, he stopped police lawlessness.
“With his arrival, bullying and lawlessness on the part of law enforcement agencies against our citizens stopped. People are no longer killed in custody as they used to be. This is very important. The state is entering the legal mainstream. Today you can come to a state institution and seek your rights.”
In his opinion, “in order to boost the economy, a lot of things are needed,” and it is impossible to do it “in one fell swoop”. And solving the customs problem and reducing duties on imported goods from Russia is not within Gagloev’s competence at all:
“It is not South Ossetia that solves customs issues, but Russia. At the same time there is inflation in Russia too. We import all food products from Russia, and if prices rise there, what should we do? We want to establish something here, but for now we need to make people work.
Under the previous government there was authoritarianism, all ministries were disorganized. And this led to the paralysis of the system. Now we need to organize the state administration.”
According to Vaneyev, the government is working hard to create new jobs and assures that everything will get better in time:
“Slowly something is being put into operation. A factory for the production of facing tiles has been built. There are 25 people involved. In our scale it is a lot. There are projects in forestry. Slowly everything will go back to normal.”
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The next presidential election in South Ossetia is to be held in 2027. That is, one way or another, Alan Gagloev will remain in the post of president for three more years.
Alan Gagloev’s presidency
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