TBILISI, DFWatch – Oppositional candidate Alla Dzhioyeva is leading and might win the second round of the election in Georgia’s breakaway region South Ossetia.

At 2 am counting showed she had more than 51 per cent of the votes, while alleged Kremlin favorite Anatoly Bibilov fell significantly behind with 46 per cent. This is a clearer difference than in the first round when the two were head to head.

But the outcome is still hanging in the balance, because only 43 of 85 districts had completed counting.

Dzhioyeva is the sole female in the breakaway region’s election to find a successor for de facto president Eduard Kokoity. She is seen by many seen as an oppositional figure, though another candidate,  Dzambulat Tedeev, had a stronger standing among Tskhinvali’s opposition earlier on.

He was however prevented by authorities to register as a candidate.

Dzhioyeva also seemed to be beating Bibilov in the first round of the election on November 13, but final results showed she fell behind with just a fraction of a per cent, both receiving a quarter of the votes cast.