Thirty years ago, a historic referendum was held in South Ossetia, which determined not only the stages of the actions of the national movement of the people, legitimate state authorities and the further development of the young republic - the referendum determined the fate of the state and the people, and this date is perhaps the most significant in the history of South Ossetians.
... The morning of January 19, 1992 turned out to be extremely cold, there were real Epiphany frosts, which do not happen so often in this region. It seemed that the higher forces were testing the people of South Ossetia for strength: Tskhinval was being periodically shelled from all types of weapons, some of the villages in the districts were blocked by Georgian gangs and the winter turned out to be severe, and there was neither light nor heat in the houses.
The cannonade habitual for residents of Tskhinval, intensified on that Epiphany morning - the Georgians occupied the Pris height. But the streets of Tskhival were crowded: waiting till the shelling was over, hiding behind the walls of buildings, people hurried to the polling stations.
1. The number of citizens who received ballot papers - 53441
2. The number of citizens who took part in the voting (established by counting the ballots in the ballot boxes) - 53441
3. The number of citizens who answered "yes" - 53308
4. The number of citizens who answered "no" - 48
5. The number of ballots declared invalid - 85.
Of the 73 percent of South Ossetians who voted, 99 percent answered yes to both referendum questions:
1. Do you want South Ossetia to be the independent state?
2. Do you want South Ossetia to be part of Russia?
If one does not know the circumstances under which the vote was being held, then the numbers of dry statistics are unlikely to say anything to future generations researching the recent history of South Ossetia, except for the absolute legitimacy of the referendum. Meanwhile, these figures are the indicator of the mass heroism of the inhabitants of the Republic of all nationalities: Ossetians, Georgians, Armenians, Russians, Ukrainians, Jews. And the indicator of the civic courage of those who founded the Republic with the power of intellect, creating an impeccable political and legal base.
Despite the political and legal chaos associated with the collapse of the USSR, the act of popular will was carried out in accordance with the law "On the procedure for secession of the union republic from the USSR."
This law was adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in April 1990, and its adoption was facilitated by the processes taking place since the mid-1980s on the vast territory of the seemingly “indestructible” union of republics: separatist sentiments were intensifying in many of them. Including in Georgia, where not just separatism was growing, the ideology of aggressive Nazism in its most disgusting manifestations was gaining strength.
According to the Constitution of the USSR, all the republics included in it were considered sovereign states, each of which was assigned the right to secede from the USSR by the Constitution, but there were no legal norms in the legislation regulating the procedure for this seceding. The law adopted in April 1990 spelled out a complex mechanism for the secession of the republic, providing for a whole range of issues - political, legal, economic.
The decision on secession of the union republic from the USSR, according to the law, could be made by the free will of the peoples of the union republic through a referendum.
For republics with autonomous formations and places of compact residence of different nations on their territory, it was envisaged to hold a referendum separately for each autonomy. The peoples of the autonomous republics and autonomous formations retained the right to independently resolve the issue of their stay in the USSR or the seceding union republic, as well as to raise the question of their state legal status.
In accordance with the same law, after five years from the date of the first referendum, another referendum was to be held - confirming or refuting the results of the first one.
The first referendum, the all-Union referendum on the preservation of the USSR - the only all-Union referendum in the entire history of the USSR was held on March 17, 1991. Of the 15 union republics, 9 took part in it. Among those who refused to participate in the referendum was Georgia. The referendum was held in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
In South Ossetia, the referendum on the preservation of the USSR was held in the most difficult conditions: most of the districts were blocked by the Georgian gang, the Republic was deprived of energy, even ballots had to be printed in North Ossetia. A special commission was created for the referendum, headed by Yuri Dzitsoity (the same commission will hold a referendum on independence later)
Outpouring of popular will took place throughout the territory of South Ossetia, including Georgian villages, not controlled by the gangs.
About 76 percent of the entire population of the Republic took part in the voting - almost 99 percent were in favor of preserving the Soviet Union.
The next referendum stipulated by law in five years, did not take place - three people in Belovezhskaya Pushcha destroyed the great country against the will of the majority of its inhabitants, plunging the peoples inhabiting it into wars, breaking the fate of millions of people. The South Ossetians could have been buried under the ruins of a crumbling empire, if not for the decisive and impeccable actions of those who then determined the fate of the state.
The referendum of January 19, 1992, according to Yuri Dzitsoyty, cannot be considered outside the context of the historical events of the late 80-90s of the 20th century throughout the territory of the former USSR, the events in Georgia and in South Ossetia itself of that period, and considered separately from the referendum of March 1991 of the year.
“The events were developing rapidly and tragically: in December 1991 there was the Belovezhskaya "gathering" . There was only a month left to prepare for the referendum. Just the referendum. The decisions of the Supreme Council on this fateful issue were excluded - such decisions can be easily canceled, and the results of a referendum can only be canceled by a second referendum - that is, directly by the people themselves. By that time, there was no other legal field in the entire post-Soviet space,” said the Chairman of the referendum commission.
In 1989-1990 the Supreme Council of Georgia, which abolished all legislative acts adopted after February 1921, completely destroyed the existing legal basis for the thesis of the “territorial integrity of Georgia” within the administrative boundaries of the former Georgian SSR, including in relation to South Ossetia.
“Our paths diverged from Georgia as early as the results of the March 1991 referendum. They diverged both in the political and legal field. We remained part of the USSR, having held a referendum on the law, it seceded from the Union, bypassing the existing legislation and norms of international law. Moreover, back in 1990, Georgia unilaterally repealed the Soviet laws, practically leaving the legal field of the USSR before the legal collapse of the country, and thus did not become the legal successor of the GSSR. In January 1992, Georgia was not recognized by the former republics of the USSR that were not recognized by the UN, and, finally, at that time there was not even a legitimate leadership there. That is, there is a state self-proclaimed through separatist actions, which we were no longer part of," Dzitsoity stressed.
It is difficult to overestimate the historic mission of the referendum commission. Its members showed real heroism, despite the most difficult conditions, the resistance of certain individuals in South Ossetia itself, the actions of the Georgian lobby in Moscow - the referendum was held flawlessly from a legal point of view and at the highest organizational level. The results of the referendum are legitimate at all stages, including the final one. According to the law, within ten days the results of the voting must be published in the press. Newspapers were not published then due to the energy blockade. The “engine” was transported from the hospital for several hours to the printing house and a newspaper with the results of the referendum was printed.
“I will cite such a glaring fact: when ballots for the referendum were printed in North Ossetia, the questions were changed. The questions were formulated by the Supreme Council of South Ossetia and no one had the right to change them, they had to be reprinted. The former ones were destroyed, although we kept a couple of copies for history.
Well, the main factor of influence is the military. Before the referendum and directly on January 19, there were massive shelling, the Pris height above Tskhinval was seized. Terror was intensified throughout the Republic. It should be noted the heroism of the members of the regional branches of the referendum commission, who were under siege, martial law. For example, from Dmenis, which is a twenty-minute drive from Tskhinval in a straight line, they went for the ballots by detour through the Jer Pass to Dzau, from there along the Zar Pass to the town Half a day on the road, and the results of the vote were already brought by the same detour routes. The members of the commission did not receive a salary, on the contrary, they were bringingt food from home so that they could have a snack and firewood - that January was very cold, ”recalled Dzitsoyty.
The names of the members of the commission should become known, and each of them is worthy of the highest state awards.
No less heroism was shown by the inhabitants of the Republic, who took part in the vote - to come to the polling station was fraught with a risk to life - both in the shelled city itself and in the areas blocked by the Georgian gangs.
According to Dzitsoyty, residents of the Georgian villages not controlled by the militants also took part in the referendum, and, judging by the results of the voting - 99 percent "for" on both issues - most of them voted for the sovereignty of their Republic:
"I am grateful to everyone who took part in the referendum, even those who voted against it," said the Chairman of the referendum commission.
According to Dzitsoyty, the two issues of the referendum on sovereignty and joining Russia do not contradict each other, since Russia was regarded as the legal successor of the USSR, including in the UN.
“The fact that Yeltsin's Russia did not become such a successor on many, including key issues, is another topic, then, in 1992, it was impossible to foresee much. It was possible to enter the Russian Federation only as an independent state. Therefore, at first it was necessary to finally determine its legal status in the new historical realities, and only then, over time, under certain conditions, it was possible to raise the question of joining Russia. The results of the Referendum on January 19, 1992 to this day have full legal force in accordance with all norms of international law,” said the Chairman of the Commission on the Referendum.
The results of the Referendum on January 19, 1992 became the fundamental document for the adoption of the Act of Independence on May 29, 1992 and the legal basis for Russia's recognition of the independence of South Ossetia on August 26, 2008.
