Georgians voted yesterday in the country's third election in less than six months, a parliamentary ballot that many hoped would cap the country's transition out of the turbulent era of former president Eduard Shevardnadze.
Parties loyal to President Mikhail Saakashvili, who led the protests that swept Shevardnadze out of power last fall and was elected by a landslide in January, were expected to win a large majority of legislative seats. Polls last week showed that the combined ticket of Saakashvili's National Union and the Democratic Party, led by Parliament Speaker Nino Burdzhanadze, stood to win about 75 percent of the vote.
Yesterday's vote was to replace the fraud-riddled parliamentary election of November, which sparked the anti-Shevardnadze protests. Voters cast ballots in transparent ballot boxes, underlining official efforts to ensure a fair election.
At a polling station in the Didi Digomi neighborhood of the capital Tbilisi, monitors from opposition parties were on hand when the first voters arrived at 8am.
"These are real elections, not a parody as in Communist times," voter Georgy Kalandadze, a 75-year-old retired economist, said approvingly.
He said he had voted for Saakashvili because he trusted him. Since the new president took power, he said, pensions have been paid on time and there is a promise to raise them as of April.
"Some people call this populism. If populism means a struggle for justice, then it's a very good word," Kalandadze said.
While voting in Tbilisi appeared to be going smoothly, tension surrounded the election in other regions, especially the restive autonomous region of Adzharia.
Earlier this month, provincial border guards blocked Saakashvili from entering Adzharia on a campaign trip to the region, where his supporters want longtime regional strongman Aslan Abashidze out of power. Saak-ashvili put the military on alert and gave Abashidze 24 hours to back down -- then announced economic sanctions when he didn't give in.
Days later, Saakashvili met with Abashidze, who has stifled political opposition, and announced that the Adzharian leader had agreed to concessions including allowing free and fair voting.
But Abashidze has refused to disarm the militias that prowl Adzharia, which could spark added tension.
Saakashvili said Saturday that he was sending Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and other government officials to Adzharia yesterday. Zhvania said their presence would show voters there that "their freedom of choice is just as sacred to us as that of our citizens anywhere else."
Fourteen parties and five alliances are competing in the election, but only Saakashvili's alliance appeared assured of winning seats under the party-list system.
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