Georgia to Elect Parliament in Rerun Polls
Adjarian Polls Overshadow Election Process in Rest of Georgia
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| Georgians go to the polls for the third time in last five months. |
Observers say President Saakashvili’s party is poised for a landslide victory, while the opposition parties, which suffer of lower public confidence, admit popular support of the ruling National Movement – Democrats party, however fear that the authorities would rig the ballot to secure even more votes.
Meanwhile, focus of attention is shifted to Adjara, whose leader Aslan Abashidze refuses to bow central authorities and desperately grips for decade-long unilateral power in this western Georgian province at the Black Sea.
March 28 parliamentary polls are partial rerun of fraudulent November 2, 2003 elections. On November 25 the Supreme Court annulled the results of the proportional component of the November 2 parliamentary elections. In contradiction to this decision, the election results in the single-mandate constituencies were inexplicably permitted to stand.
The partial cancellation of the election results meant that only 75 MPs elected in the single-mandate constituencies would take their seats and the new Parliament. While, 11 political parties and 5 election blocs will contest for 150 seats in the legislative body from party lists under a proportional system. Remaining 10 seats in the 235-seat Parliament are occupied by the representatives of the Tbilisi-based Abkhaz government-in-exile.
Georgian authorities, who refused to follow Council of Europe’s recommendation and reduce a 7% threshold, the minimum required to qualify for seats in parliament, expect 70% support in Sunday’s elections. President Saakashvili has already said that he does not want to see “sharply confronted opposition” in the legislative. The statement sparked opposition leaders’ accusations that the government plans ballot fraud.
“According to the opinion polls, conducted by us, the ruling party will get 35% of votes in the capital city Tbilisi and 50% – in the rural areas. However, the municipalities are warned by the central authorities to secure at least 70% of votes for the ruling party, which confirms that vote rigging is anticipated. Otherwise, the ruling party will fail to achieve the desirable results [70% of votes],” Zakaria Kutsnashvili of Socialists opposition party told Civil Georgia.
“Everything is being done to prevent the opposition from entering the Parliament and the President has himself confirmed it. So, we can make relevant conclusions,” Jondi Baghaturia of the Labor Party told Civil Georgia.
Around 8,000 local and 450 international observers from OSCE and Council of Europe will watch the elections closely throughout Georgia. However, the focus of the election watchdogs will be made on Adjara – region notorious for its widespread ballot fraud.
Unlike the previous authorities of Georgia, the new government does not intend to turn a blind eye on vote rigging in Adjara, as President Saakashvili and his co-thinkers are willing to see “Adjara without Abashidze” – as one of the slogans of the Saakashvili’s party read during last November’s elections.
Chairman of the Central Election Commission Zurab Tchiaberashvili convened a news briefing late on March 27 and said that precinct election commission members in Adjara are intimidated by the local authorities. “Do not be afraid of this intimidation, we will protect you. I urge Aslan Abashidze not to interfere in election process,” Zurab Tchiaberashvili said.
The Labor Party, the Rightist Opposition – Industrialists-New Rights, Adjarian leader Abashidze’s Revival Party are the most influential political forces, which will contest for clearing 7% threshold.
Political analysts in Georgia were surprised by the performance of the newly created Freedom (Tavisupleba) party, which is led by Konstantine Gamsakhurdia. He is the son of Georgia’s late president Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who was ousted as a result of 1991-1992 military coup. Konstantine Gamsakhurdia has returned from Switzerland in mid-March, after 12 years of exile and launched an election campaign just ten days before the elections.