Career
Leonid Tibilov headed the South Ossetian Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (Committee for State Security) from 1992 to 1998. He was then a first deputy prime minister and co-chaired a Georgian-Ossetian peacekeeping commission. Before the 2012 election Tibilov distanced himself from the outgoing President Eduard Kokoity.
Tibilov is reported to be loyal to Russia and pledged to consult Russia before appointing a government if he was successful at the election.
In the first round of the 2012 Presidential election, Tibilov received 42.5% of the vote to lead David Sanakoyev. In the second round, Tibilov was elected president with 54% of the vote.