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Georgia elects new Parliament

TBILISI: President Mikhail Saakashvili’s pro-Western ruling party faces off in elections on Wednesday against opposition forces embittered by a crackdown on protesters and a presidential ballot they claim was a fraud.

The U.S. and E.U. will be watching closely because Georgia’s frayed ties with Moscow and its location on an export route for Caspian Sea oil and gas that bypasses Russia gives it geopolitical importance far greater than its size. Mr. Saakashvili, a staunch ally of the Bush administration, hopes to polish his tarnished democratic credentials — crucial to his drive for NATO membership — while maintaining his grip on power despite faded popularity.

Opponents want to weaken Mr. Saakashvili by shattering the more than two-thirds majority his United National Movement enjoys in Parliament. Given a big enough win, they could seek the impeachment of a President they call illegitimate. Opinion polls pointed to less impressive gains for Mr. Saakashvili’s opponents, raising the prospect of new protests fuelled by claims of electoral violations.

The election is coloured by tension over Russia’s growing support for the Abkhazia province. But because Mr. Saakashvili’s opponents share his wariness of Russia and his pro-Western views, the issue is more a platform for scoring points than for major policy debate. Mr. Saakashvili’s party faces 11 other political forces in the election for the Parliament’s 150 seats, half of which will be filled by nationwide voting for parties and half by voting for individual candidates. Nearly 3.5 million people were eligible to vote.

The main United Opposition Council and three other opposition parties are expected to clear the 5 per cent hurdle needed to win seats. Mr. Saakashvili was initially elected by a landslide after leading the Rose Revolution protests that ousted his predecessor in 2003. But accusations of authoritarianism and his failure to lift the country out of hardship despite economic growth have dented his popularity.

His crackdown in November 2007, when the police used teargas against protesters demanding his resignation, angered Georgians and alarmed the West. — AP

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