Unity of the People (South Ossetia)

Unity of the People Дзыллӕйы иудзинад Единство народа ხალხის ერთიანობა
Leader	Sergey Pukhaev
Founded	2011
Headquarters	Tskhinvali
Ideology	Russophilia
Colours
Parliament	0 / 34
Politics of South Ossetia Political parties Elections

The Unity of the People (Ossetian: Дзыллӕйы иудзинад; Russian: Единство народа; Georgian: ხალხის ერთიანობა, romanized: khalkhis ertianoba) is a nationalist political party in South Ossetia, a partially recognized Caucasian republic, considered by most countries to be a part of Georgia. The party is led by Vladimir Kelekhsaev.^[1]

In 2015, then South Ossetian president Leonid Tibilov proposed a referendum on the annexation of South Ossetia into Russia, with Unity of the People issuing a press release calling for such a referendum to take place immediately and that annexation is the "dream of a generation."^[2]

During the 2017 election the party's candidate, Alan Kozonov was denied registration by the Central Election Commission (CEC) due to failing to submit the required number of signatures.^[3]

In the party's 2019 congress, members focused on agricultural issues, with chairman Vladimir Kelekhsaev stating: "The most important thing today is [bringing] attention to agricultural issues; it is necessary to determine the fertility of the land, which will allow [the development of] horticulture, viticulture and raising cattle. Today, 90% of agricultural products are imported from Russia. We must be self-sufficient.”^[4]

During the 2022 election the party's longtime leader and founder Vladimir Kelekhsaev stood as the party's candidate for president, announcing that the party's platform would "rally and work for the benefit of the people and Ossetia" and mostly focused on budget overruns and governmental deadlock.^[5] He also claimed that the South Ossetian state was only functioning due to extensive bankrolling by the Russian government, and that South Ossetia should instead be self sufficient with a positive budget.^[5]

Shortly after the Russian recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics in February 2022, Unity of the People congratulated the move and officially sent congratulations to the republic's governments.^[6]

Kelekhsaev would eventually be disqualified by the CEC and was unable to participate.^{[citation needed]}

Unity of the People held its conference for the 2024 South Ossetian parliamentary election on April 12, 2024. There, the party named five candidates to its party list; Alan Tekhov, Alan Dzhussoev, Mikhail Tedeev, Igor Kuleba, Mikhail Dogguzov, and Roman Kabisov.^[7] Additionally, the party name its candidates for the single-mandate districts; Ibrahim Kelekhsayev, Harry Tsandiata, Zaury Gabaraev, Inal Gabaraev, Sergey Tadtayev, Soslan Bestayev, Alan Khachyrov, Vladimir Kelekhsaev, Arthur Khugaev, Julia Babugidze and Tinatin Khubulova.^[7] Before the election the party's chairman Sergey Pukhaev listed the parties platform to the State Information Agency.^[8] Stating that the central part of the party's campaign was claiming that the state did not have a functioning system of checks and balances and instead operated largely at the whim of the president.^[8] Additionally Pukhaev stated that the party would seek to reduce the cost of mortgages, call for an annexation into Russia.^[8] Pukhaev also called for reform to the voting system, reducing the 7% barrier to entry for the proportional vote, and returning to the mixed majority-proportional system pre-2019, where the entire parliament was determined by proportional vote.^[8]

Going into the election the party was part of the ruling minority government of Nykhaz with 3 seats in parliament.^[9] However, the party only got 918 votes in the proportional vote, or 4.2%, with another 961 votes in the single-mandate districts, winning no contests and losing all their seats.^[10]