Supporters of disqualified presidential candidate Alla Dzhioyeva are reportedly gathering outside her campaign headquarters in Tskhinvali, capital of the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia.
The Russian news agency Interfax reported that some 70 to 100 mostly men have assembled with some of them planning to storm the government building.
Dzhioyeva appeared to be winning the November 27 presidential runoff in South Ossetia.
Preliminary results announced by the Central Election Commission showed her well ahead of her opponent, Emergency Situations Minister Anatoly Bibilov, who was supported by Moscow.
Bibilov’s Unity party complained about violations during the November 27 poll and South Ossetia’s Supreme Court agreed and declared the election invalid.
The parliament later disqualified Dzhioyeva as a candidate for the repeat presidential election rescheduled for March.
Dzhioyeva has declared that she won the election and has filed a complaint for the Supreme Court to overturn its decision.
Meanwhile, Georgian Interior Ministry official Shota Utiashvili has called South Ossetian accusations of Georgian interference in these events “absolute rubbish.”
South Ossetia broke away from Georgia in a war in the 1990s.
Russia recognized South Ossetia’s independence after a brief war with Georgia in 2008 but since then only a few other countries have followed the Kremlin’s lead.
compiled from agency reports