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January 6, 2008

Georgian Opposition Protests Early Election Tallies
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1AD1731:A6F02AD83191E160AE83E9AE46A7F8A6B3350E090FE6A6E8& Official results
Sunday, with about eight percent of the vote counted, show Mr.
Saakashvili carrying about 56 percent of the electorate





Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili greets his supporters during a
rally in Tbilisi, Georgia, 4 Jan. 2008

Thousands of opposition supporters have rallied in the Georgian
capital to protest early election results that show Mikhail
Saakashvili narrowly winning a second presidential term.

Opposition leaders claim Saturday's vote was rigged, and say the
campaign leading to the polls was unfair.  However, European poll
monitors say the election met most international standards.

Official results Sunday with about eight percent of the vote counted
show Mr. Saakashvili carrying about 56 percent of the electorate.  His
nearest rival, Levan Gachechiladze, was winning about 23 percent. 
Exit polls also showed Mr. Saakashvili winning more than half of the
vote, enough to avoid a run-off election.







Levan Gachechiladze

While endorsing election-day procedures, observers from the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the campaign
reflected a lack of trust in the political process among participants.

Mr. Saakashvili resigned the presidency last month as required by law
to campaign for a second term.  He called the early elections aftersix
days of mass opposition protests in Tbilisi in November ended in
violence.



Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.




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