Eduard Kokoity, who has ruled Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia since late 2001, announced on Saturday about quitting the post as part of a deal with opposition.

Kokoity, who intended to stay in power at least till repeat presidential election set for March 25, 2012, said: “I am quitting in order to work even more for my people.”

He also said, according to the Russian news agencies, that the authorities managed to prevail over “orange revolution” – Kokoity was describing to opposition’s street protest rallies, which were ongoing in Tskhinvali since annulment of the November 27 presidential runoff results, as an attempt to stage “the orange revolution”.

Earlier on Saturday he addressed a governing body of his ruling Unity party, which he chairs. Kokoity said that the party should “analyze mistakes” and it should play a leading role in the upcoming repeat presidential election.

“It is the merit of the party that it prevented criminal elements from coming into power,” Kokoity said.

Kokoity and Alla Jioyeva, an opposition candidate whose victory in the November 27 presidential runoff over the Kremlin-backed candidate Anatoly Bibilov was annulled, signed in presence of a Kremlin official in Tskhinvali an agreement to put an end to the post-election crisis.

According to the deal PM Vadim Brovtsev, not a native of South Ossetia who was sent into the breakaway region from Russia to lead its government in summer, 2009, will assume duties of an interim leader before the inauguration of a new leader, elected in the March polls.

Some of Kokoity’s key allies, including chief prosecutor, his deputy and chairman of supreme court, have also resigned as part of the deal.