The Unity Party, founded in 2003, supported former President Eduard Kokoity, and was for a decade the largest political party in South Ossetia. After the 2009 elections, the party held 17 out of 34 seats in South Ossetia's parliament. It is modeled after and is closely linked to the United Russia party, with which it has signed an inter-party cooperation agreement.[1] The party is a winner of the 2004 and 2009 parliamentary elections.