Observers spot problems with Georgian election

“In Georgia yesterday, democracy took its triumphant step,” said Alcee Hastings, a US Congressman who headed the observer mission. But, he said, “the future holds immense challenges.”

“Now it is up to the authorities to hear our criticisms and urgently respond to the significant shortcomings noted,” said Hungarian legislator Matyas Eorsi.

Early results from yesterday’s voting indicated Mr Saakashvili would narrowly clear the 50% of the vote that a candidate needs to win in the first round.

Opposition members contend the voting was riddled with violations. Today, thousands of opposition protesters gathered in the capital Tbilisi to demonstrate.

The OSCE’s assessments of elections are widely seen as definitive and it was not immediately clear if its ambivalent report would encourage or undermine the protesters.

Mr Saakashvili is fighting accusations of authoritarian tendencies four years after coming to power as a champion of democracy.

His supporters waved flags and tooted car horns in the capital Tbilisi after the exit poll showed him winning 53.8 percent of the vote yesterday.

But the poll had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points - casting doubt on whether the president would hang on to the absolute majority needed to avoid a run-off.

Mr Saakashvili’s leading challenger, Levan Gachechiladze, received 28.3 percent of the vote, according to the exit poll.

Mr Saakashvili called for reconciliation in a speech to supporters at celebratory concert.

“I’m extending my hand to those who voted for me and to those who took part in the elections,” he said.

The US-educated Mr Saakashvili led mass street protests that ousted a Communist-era veteran from power following fraudulent elections in late 2003.

He won a January 2004 election with more than 96 percent of the vote and set out to transform the bankrupt country into a modern European state.

Now the Rose Revolution hero, who was much lauded in the West, is accused by his opponents at home of sidelining his critics and displaying an authoritarian bent.

After casting his ballot in Tbilisi, Mr Saakashvili said he was dedicated to having a free and fair election.

“We are committed to having Georgia as a beacon of democracy in our part of the world,” he said.

Mr Saakashvili’s opponents took to the streets in November, holding peaceful demonstrations for five days before police violently dispersed them.

Mr Saakashvili imposed a state of emergency that included banning independent TV news broadcasts.

The violent crackdown angered many Georgians and called into question Mr Saakashvili’s commitment to democracy. Mr Saakashvili defused the crisis by calling an early election, cutting short his own five-year term.

Opposition leaders said the campaign was held under unfair conditions and claimed there were widespread violations during the vote.

Mr Gachechiladze, speaking on television early today, claimed he had won in most precincts and the vote count was being held under conditions of “terror”.

He called for protests this afternoon, urging “all of Georgia to come to make sure we don’t lose our country”.

A run-off vote could allow the opposition, now split among six candidates, to unite behind Mr Gachechiladze, a businessman and lawmaker.

Mr Gachechiladze, 43, represents an opposition coalition that wants to do away with the presidency.

If a parliamentary system is established, as the coalition wants, he would step down.

The opposition has been undermined by a scandal that has discredited one of the leading candidates, billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili.

He has been accused of plotting to overthrow the government and has acknowledged offering large sums of money to police if they side with protesters.

The exit poll showed Mr Patarkatsishvili finishing third with 6.2 percent of the vote.