World Economy

May 23, 2008

The ruling party of President Mikhail Saakashvili

The ruling party of President Mikhail Saakashvili Wednesday won a large majority in parliamentary elections in Georgia on Wednesday, according to nearly complete results.


The Leader of the Opposition united, Levan Gachechiladze, announced that the opposition bloc boycott Parliament to protest against the elections he considers rigged. He also called for demonstrations Monday, the day of the anniversary of the independence of Georgia.

The National United Movement of the president should get around 120 of the 150 seats in Parliament, according to Zurab Kachkachishvili, spokesman for the Electoral Commission of Georgia.

In the Georgian electoral system, 75 seats are allocated by proportional representation at national level, and 75 others in local elections. According to these results nearly complete, the United National Movement won 60% of the vote nationally, and 71 seats in local elections.

Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), for their part, suggested that Wednesday's elections were "irregular and incomplete", which, however, report progress since the presidential January.

Some 3.5 million Georgians were called to the polls for this election seen as a test practices Democrats of President Saakashvili, who is supported by the USA and the European Union, and hopes to bring his country into NATO

by erectusplus at 10:25 AM |