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Georgian president claims victory

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili casts his ballot as he holds his son Nikoloz and first lady Sandra Roelofs looks on during local self-rule elections in Tbilisi on Thursday. According the Central Election Commission, 3,033 polling stations were opened. PHOTO: AFP

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili claimed victory in municipal elections seen as a key test of his pro-Western government's popularity amid a spiraling confrontation with neighboring Russia.

"The whole world watched us, and our society passed its test with flying colors," Saakashvili told supporters at his party's headquarters late on Thursday.

"We conducted democratic elections ... And I want to say that we conducted clean elections despite our opponents' pouring dirt on us," he said.

Saakashvili cited exit polls reported by Georgian television which said his vote, followed by the joint opposition Republican-Conservative bloc with 8.1 percent.

The exit poll methodology could not immediately be verified. Preliminary results from the Central Election Commission were expected yesterday morning.

Nearly three years after the Rose Revolution protests propelled him to power, the US-educated Saakashvili faces an electorate increasingly disenchanted and impatient with the slow pace of economic reforms.

A week after Georgia's arrest of four Russian military officers on spying charges sent relations with Moscow plummeting, the crisis has prompted stern responses from Russia, which could have a severe economic fallout in the poor Caucasus nation.

Moscow suspended air, sea, road, rail and postal links with its southern neighbor on Tuesday, paralyzing trade with economically dependent Georgia. On Thursday, Moscow said it would abolish quotas allowing a certain number of Georgians each year to obtain residency and work permits. Several Georgian-run casinos and restaurants in Moscow have been raided and closed down for alleged regulatory violations.

"Russia does not want to be provoked, Russia wants to be respected. Russia wants the anti-Russian campaign to stop," Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Yakovenko told reporters in Moscow.

Yesterday, two Russian planes were to transport to Moscow 180 Russians who were stranded in Georgia by the transport blockade.

The Russian daily Kommersant, meanwhile, reported that police in Moscow were asking schools to compile lists of children studying there with Georgian surnames in a drive to uncover illegal migrants.

Up to a million Georgians live in Russia, according to some estimates, and they send hundreds of millions of dollars every year to their families.

The dispute with Russia has fanned nationalism in Georgia. However, bread-and-butter issues like the rising cost of living and persistent corruption may ultimately determine how much support Saakashvili has in his drive to modernize the country and integrate with the West.

Georgians were choosing more than 1,700 members of municipal and regional councils that will in turn elect mayors and administration heads.
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