Was the election in Georgia fraudulent or not?
Although the election results in Georgia have been officially announced, . The returning president Mikhail Saakashvili came first with over 50% of the votes, while his rival Levan Gachechiladze got only 25% of the share. While many Georgian bloggers are certain of fraud, others believe that this was the country's most democratic election to date. As well as this report, see the video campaign of Mikhail Saakashvili: where everyone wants him as president; from rugby players to soldiers; folk-singers to school-goers.
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Although the election results in Georgia have been officially announced, they're still being contested by the opposition. The returning president Mikhail Saakashvili came first with over 50% of the votes, while his rival Levan Gachechiladze got only 25% of the share. While many Georgian bloggers are certain of fraud, others believe that this was the country's most democratic election to date. As well as this report, see the video campaign of Mikhail Saakashvili: where everyone wants him as president; from rugby players to soldiers; folk-singers to school-goers.
‘The opposition are bitter losers’
Alexander Rondeli, the President of Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS), says that this election was exceptional: The January 5 presidential elections were very different from any other elections in Georgia's past. In 1991, Gamsakhurdia was elected on the tide against Communism. Then in 1992, Shevardnadze was elected president -in the most difficult time for Georgia, amidst civil war- because he was considered a possible saviour of the country. In 2003 Saakashvili came in on the tide of the Rose Revolution. None of them had any real competition.This time, we saw a real competition between candidates. Saakashvili won in a difficult fight and by a narrow margin. The elections were fair and democratic - such was the opinion of international organizations and observers. Opposition contests Saakashvili's victory and accuses him of fraud. It has to be mentioned that before the elections, the opposition has already threatened that if they lose, they'd call it a fraud and bring people out onto the streets."
Post your questions to Alexander Rondeli
Fraud?
Some bloggers think the elections were a sham. Many of them cite the blog of an Estonian observer, Evelyn Sepp:What started after that was amazing. When the station had closed, several strange people arrived, including policemen. They took part in counting the ballots. Members of the commission tried to falsify documents. The final results were as follows: from 1981 listed voters, 1693 voted for Saakashvili, while other candidates got only 118 votes."
A blogger with the nickname "Zebra24" takes the middle ground:
There were certainly some falsifications, but not on the same scale as in Russia. Saakashvili's victory is obvious, but it's hard to say now whether a second vote will be necessary. I think that total percentage of falsified votes is 1 to 5 percent - more than probably, even less than 1% (40 polling stations out of 3700.)"