During the forthcoming referendum on amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of South Ossetia to be held in July 2016, it will be proposed Article 10 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Ossetia, according to which: "The Republic of South Ossetia has the right to enter into an alliance with other states and to transfer to the bodies of the Union part of its powers ", supplemented by the following paragraph:
"Based on the results of the popular vote (referendum) on January 19,1992, the President of the Republic of South Ossetia with the consent of the Parliament of the Republic of South Ossetia has the right to appeal to the leadership of the Russian Federation with the offer on acceptance of the Republic of South Ossetia to the Russian Federation as a new region of the Russian Federation and to conclude with the Russian Federation the relevant Treaty "
This initiative, as it is known, was proposed by the President of South Ossetia Leonid Tibilov. We asked the Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy for post-conflict settlement Murat Dzhioev to comment on this situation:
The initiative of the South Ossetian President Leonid Tibilov to hold a referendum on introducing amendments to the current Constitution of the Republic of South Ossetia, which legally allows to apply to the Russian Federation on the acceptance of South Ossetia to the Russian Federation, is completely clear and justified.
The desire to reunite with Russia, the Russian people is a long-standing dream and strategy of the political orientation of the people of South Ossetia, at least since 1917, when by the revolution will and subsequent events, South Ossetia found itself out of the Russian space . All these years preceding the present initiative, have shown that only with Russia can be guaranteed a quiet present and future of our people.
President Leonid Tibilov has repeatedly stressed his and the South Ossetian leadership's commitment to becoming a part of Russia. The idea of a referendum, he announced in February, in his Message to the Parliament and the people of South Ossetia.
I believe that it is in this formulation, the issue of a referendum is legally and politically correct and has the prospect of implementation.
Such an important step, as the acceptance of one state to another one should be legally justified and supported by political and international environment.
The referendum to be held on the scheme proposed by the President enables the legal justification, it will be enshrined in the Constitution (now Article 10 of the Constitution does not provide for the entry of South Ossetia into another state), and also gives powers to the President and the Parliament in due time on behalf of the people to appeal to the Russian leadership . This referendum and the Constitution will give the right and duty to the President and the Parliament to speak on behalf of all the people, because they are elected by the people and have appropriate authority (and this will not be a personal whim of one person, as it is now want to present a few).
Speaking about accepting South Ossetia to the Russian Federation, we should not ignore the international environment, the momentary desire should not put the RSO or Russia in an awkward position with the international legal point of view. And in order to be at the right time in the right place you have to be prepared in advance. Such preparedness can be provided by the referendum .
