Kambolov once again ignored the presidential candidate debates in South Ossetia.

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In the latest presidential candidate debates in South Ossetia, only Murat Valiev and Kazbek Kodoev participated. Marat Kambolov once again did not show up, and candidate Zurab Kokoev was absent from any of them. The candidates touched on topics of local self-government, preservation of the Ossetian language, and ecology.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on September 15, the acting president of South Ossetia Marat Kambolov presented the election program, the main goal of which he named as creating conditions for a decent life, work, and self-realization of residents without the need to leave the republic. Among the program's directions, he mentioned social support, job creation, and income growth. On September 17, Kambolov made a series of statements about solving social and infrastructure problems, and also announced a salary increase for employees of the state enterprise "Energoresurs".

In the last televised debates before the presidential elections, only two of the four candidates for the presidency of South Ossetia participated - Murat Valiev and Kazbek Kodoev. Acting President Marat Kambolov participated only in the first debate and ignored the next three rounds. Candidate Zurab Kokoev did not participate in any debates.

Decreased interest in the debates is observed not only among the candidates; the debates of the 2026 election campaign have become the most unpopular among the population as well. The stream on the GTRK "Ir" Telegram channel gathered only three viewers, sometimes the number increased to four.

In his welcoming speech, candidate Murat Valiev decided to focus on the topic of security. In the previous debates, where the topic was security, he was absent, and only one candidate – Kazbek Kodoev – came to the studio.

Currently, the functions of local self-government are performed by local state authorities, which are appointed, and the population has no influence on their work.

Murat Valiev highlighted the problems of local self-government, or rather, its absence. "During all elections - both parliamentary and presidential - we hear about the need to introduce a system of local self-government, but after the elections, everyone conveniently forgets about it. Currently, the functions of local self-government are performed by local state authorities, which are appointed, and the population has no influence on their work. It is necessary to introduce a recall procedure," he proposed, and promised that if elected president, he would take all measures to ensure that the system of local self-government functioned properly.

The candidate Kazbek Kodoev called the day of Russia's recognition of South Ossetia's independence one of the most important dates for the republic. Since then, Russia has been supporting South Ossetia, but the funds allocated since 2008 have not brought the desired results, he believes. "I believe that in the future we will not be able to achieve significant positive results if changes are not made to the state management system, if management processes are not optimized, and if the principle of forming the personnel of state management is not changed," he noted.

Contrary to the tradition of criticizing outgoing or departed authorities, especially regarding the expenditure of funds allocated by Russia, the candidates throughout the debates refrained from such criticism.

Such enemies for us are the ideologists of the "pseudo-values" imposed on our society through the World Wide Web.

One of the most important areas of work as president, in case of election, Murat Valiev named ideology and the preservation of the Ossetian language. He quoted Eastern wisdom, which, according to Valiev, sounds like this: "If you want to defeat the enemy - educate his children." Valiev also named the enemy: "Such enemies for us are the ideologists of the 'pseudo-values' imposed on our society through the World Wide Web. Their goal is the decomposition of the peoples living in the post-Soviet space," he believes.

Kazbek Kodoev raised the usually unpopular topic among presidential candidates of environmental preservation. He noted the decrease in fish populations in the rivers of South Ossetia, as well as the harm caused to rivers by uncontrolled extraction of sand and gravel. He noted that the republic cannot do without these materials, but various options for extracting sand and gravel should be considered.

The political scientist considers the elections in South Ossetia as an update of the South Ossetian project.

The author of the Telegram channel "Don Cossack", political scientist Sergey Markedonov commented on the elections in South Ossetia. He noted, in particular, that "South Ossetia has demonstrated the phenomenon of a partially recognized entity." "A little more than an average Russian region, but a little less than a UN member state," he commented on the status of the republic.

One of the most important practical questions for the future president is how to implement these agreements within South Ossetia.

The current elections the political scientist considers as "the choice of a management model for South Ossetia at a new stage of relations with Russia." "There is no usual classical confrontation of opposing foreign policy priorities. On May 9, 2026, Moscow and Tskhinval signed a Treaty on Deepening Allied Interaction. It provided for further rapprochement in the economy, social policy, legislation, infrastructure, security, and defense. Therefore, one of the most important practical questions for the future president is how to implement these agreements within South Ossetia," he noted.

Markedonov particularly emphasizes that in the current campaign, the topics of corruption and nepotism, as well as the effectiveness of the state apparatus, personnel renewal, and control over the expenditure of funds are constantly raised. Other fundamental topics he named include demographics, the ability of the republic to retain its population, the availability of jobs, healthcare, education, family support, infrastructure, youth outflow, security, and South Ossetian identity. The connection with Russia is practically not a "subject of principled dispute among the main participants; rather, specific accents differ.

The majority of disagreements are not around strategic partnership with Russia, but around personnel policy.

In general, the political scientist summarizes this year's campaign with the formula "integration + internal restructuring," where "the majority of disagreements are not around strategic partnership with Russia, but around personnel policy." Kambolov, according to Markedonov, appears to be the favorite in this context; therefore, the elections look like a "de facto referendum on trust in him." "In any case, right now, before our eyes, a claim is being made for a 'reset' (update) of the South Ossetian project," he concluded.

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