- Title: GEORGIA: OPPOSITION PARTIES LEADING IN EARLY RESULTS OF PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
- Date: 3rd November 2003
- Summary: (W4) TBILISI, GEORGIA (NOVEMBER 03, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF TBILISI STREETS / ELECTION POSTERS (2 SHOTS) 0.16 2. SLV BUILDING 0.25 3. CLOSE OF ELECTION POSTERB 0.34 4. WIDE OF PRESIDENTS OFFICE EXTERIOR 0.37 5. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) GEORGIAN PRESIDENT EDUARD SHEVARDNADZE, SAYING: "Today I announced that I am ready to cooperate with all forces represented in the parliament, opposition or otherwise and to break the deadlock in parliament." 1.11 6. SMV JOURNALISTS 1.15 7. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) GEORGIAN PRESIDENT EDUARD SHEVARDNADZE, SAYING "No special security measures are being taken but of course any normal country has resources to draw on. If there is a need then all resources can be used." 1.35 8. WIDE OF CENTRAL ELECTION COMMISSION HALL 1.41 9. SLV WOMAN WALKING INTO OFFICE 1.45 10. WIDE OF HALL WITH BOARD SHOWING LATEST ELECTION RESULTS 1.51 11. SMV ELECTION OFFICIALS IN HALL 1.55 12. VARIOUS OF ELECTION RESULTS 2.03 13. SMV "FAIR ELECTION" OBSERVATION OFFICIALS AT PRESS HALL 2.10 14. WIDE OF FAIR ELECTION OFFICIALS LOOKING AT BOARD SHOWING ELECTION RESULTS ACCORDING TO "FAIR ELECTION" VOTE COUNT 2.18 15. CLOSE OF FAIR ELECTION RESULTS 2.24 16. WIDE OF PRESS HALL 2.29 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 18th November 2003 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: TBILISI, GEORGIA
- Country: Georgia
- Reuters ID: LVAE1HKS867HUHG3DHMZJVLOJ85C
- Story Text: Early results show opposition parties take lead in
Georgia's parliamentary elections.
Early results released on Monday (November 3) by
Georgia's election commission reflected mixed fortunes for
President Eduard Shevardnadze.
Official preliminary results showed his newly formed
For a New Georgia! bloc taking 26 percent of the 20 percent
of votes counted so far -- the most of any single party,
but less than the total taken by opposition parties.
As the results came in, Shevardnadze announced he was
willing to work with all parliament parties in breaking
what he described as a political deadlock.
The president also said that he was not preparing any
security measures in response to the results, though
reserved the right to respond to threats.
The election campaign had been marked by minor clashes;
Georgian special forces soldiers were deployed at some
polling stations during the vote, in response to what the
government said were threats to disrupt polling.
The four other parties getting the seven percent needed
to win party seats were parties critical of Shevardnadze,
who has led independent Georgia since 1992 and dominated
politics in the Caucasus for decades.
In some sense, Shevardnadze could claim a victory. His
former party won a majority in the 1999 election but was
all but wiped out by the opposition in local elections last
year, and a new party was formed in its place.
At home Shevardnadze is deeply unpopular over unkept
promises to boost living standards, with average monthly
wages equivalent to 30 United States Dollars (USD), and
quell separatism in two areas outside government control.
Political analysts said they saw the numbers as a
victory for opponents of Shevardnadze, who will step down
in 2005 when there will be presidential elections.
One non-governmental monitoring group "Fair Election"
reported that opposition parties were outrunning
Shevardnadze's bloc according to their own parallel count
of votes.
Fair Election placed anti-corruption opposition party
Saakashvili-National Movement in first place with over 26
percent of the votes; Shevardnadze's bloc was in second
place with over 18 percent of the vote according to the
Fair Election count.
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