Georgia leader wins vote, monitors raise
concerns
Thu May 22, 2008 11:08am EDT
By Margarita Antidze and Guy Faulconbridge
TBILISI (Reuters) - President Mikheil Saakashvili claimed victory on Thursday in
Georgia's parliamentary election, which Europe's vote watchdog said had only partially
lived up to the country's democratic commitments.
Saakashvili said voting was free and fair but the opposition said the authorities had
rigged Wednesday's vote and vowed to challenge it by calling street protests.
The pro-Western president needs a clean election to persuade skeptical European
states that it is worth defying Russian objections and make Georgia, a key transit route
for oil and gas supplies from the Caspian Sea to Europe, a NATO member.
"Election day was overall calm and generally assessed positively," the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe's vote monitor said in a statement. "There were
numerous allegations of intimidation some of which could be verified."
The democratic credentials of the 40-year-old leader were tarnished when he sent riot
troops to crush protests last November. He won a snap January presidential election
which critics said was rigged, a claim he denied.
Vote monitors said the distinction between the state and the ruling party was often
blurred and that they had found cases of intimidation. But overall the election had
expressed the will of the people.
"These elections were not perfect but since I was here in January for the presidential
elections concrete and substantial progress has been made," said Joao Soares,
coordinator of the OSCE short term observer team. "Problems and much work remain."
Saakashvili said his United National Movement could get close to a constitutional
majority -- or two-thirds of the seats -- in parliament. Partial results showed his party
won more than 61 percent of the vote.
"Yesterday was the triumph of the will of the Georgian people," Saakashvili said in an
address to the nation. "No-one can raise their hand against the will of the Georgian
people."
"Even I was astonished by the big level of support which we got in these parliamentary
elections," he added.
But the opposition said voters had been intimidated by local officials and police and that
the media had been dominated by coverage of the ruling party.
"This was a criminal election," David Gamkrelidze, one opposition leader, told Reuters.
"We together with the people must achieve the cancellation of the election results and
the calling of a new parliamentary election."
STRATEGIC STATE
Saakashvili, a U.S.-educated lawyer, swept to power in the peaceful 2003 "Rose"
revolution. He promised market reforms and to re-orient his country towards Europe and
the United States.
Georgia's $10 billion economy lies at the heart of the Caucasus, where the United
States and Russia are jostling for influence over the oil and gas transit route.
It is locked in a dispute with Russia over its NATO ambitions and Moscow's support for
the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Tbilisi's Western allies
have taken its side in the row.
With over a half the ballots counted, the main opposition coalition bloc was in second
place with 15.3 percent, according to the Central Election Commission. The Christian
Democratic Movement was third with 8 percent and the Labor party fourth with 7
percent. The election commission said the vote was fair.
Opposition coalition leader Levan Gachechiladze said as polling stations closed that he
would call 100,000 people onto the streets. But only about 4,000 gathered in central
Tbilisi on Wednesday night and spent the first part of the protest watching the soccer
Champions League final on giant screens.
"The struggle against Saakashvili's regime will continue every day until this regime
departs forever," said Gachechiladze, who was once one of Saakashvili's allies.
Leaders of the coalition said they would meet on Thursday to decide their strategy.
(Additional reporting by Niko Mchedlishvili in Tbilisi and Marja Novak in Brdo, Slovenia;
Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Jon Boyle)
© Thomson Reuters 2008