Georgian lawmakers both from the ruling and opposition parties said that two rival polls in South Ossetia on November 12 demonstrated that Eduard Kokoity’s regime does not reflect the interests of the entire population of the region. 
 
National Movement MP Davit Bakradze said that not a single election can be considered legitimate until the South Ossetian conflict is settled.
 
“However, the fact that the alternative elections were held itself indicates that the region’s population does not want to be manipulated by Eduard Kokoity’s criminal regime or to be ruled from Russia. The people simply want peace and negotiations with the Georgian side,” Davit Bakradze told Imedi television on November 13.

An influential MP from the ruling National Movement party Giga Bokeria said that it was a right decision of Tbilisi not to create obstacles in holding alternative polls in South Ossetia.
 
“Our Ossetian and Georgian compatriots have no problems in this region that cannot be settled and each politician, who will advocate peace will be supported by us,” MP Bokeria said.
 
“The process has become interesting as two positions have been expressed by the population of the Tskhinvali region: pro-Russian and pro-Georgian… However there is a risk that certain forces may use these two positions to provoke hostilities,” MP Pikria Chikhradze of the opposition New Rights party said.
 
MP from the opposition Republican Party Davit Berdzenishvili said that the Georgian authorities should be “cautious and purpose-oriented.”
 
“Kokoity used to say that he reflects the interests of the population living on this territory; however, the November 12 alternative elections and referendum confirmed that this is not true,” Berdzenishvili said.