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THE PRESIDENTIAL POLLS TOOK PLACE IN GEORGIA
DAVID BERDZENISHVILI,
Сo-chairman of the parliamentary faction “Democratic Front” of the Republican Party, one of the United Opposition leaders, Tbilisi
According to the official data, Mikheil Saakashvili won the presidential election in the first round. But the Georgian opposition believes that he is not a legitimate President. Those polls were rigged everywhere. In the large regional centers Saakashvili took less than 50 percent of the vote.
Even the official data show that in Tbilisi Saakashvili got 31 percent and 69 percent of the electors voted against him. The United Opposition candidate, Levan Gachechiladze, took 39 percent in Tbilisi and up to 50 percent in the central districts. In the central district, which I represent in the Parliament, Saakashvili got 25 percent, that is three in four people voted against him.
Saakashvili lost the election in many Georgian cities. For example, in Batumi, even according to the official data, he took 38 percent. As a matter of fact, he got about 30 percent in this city. Batumi is the capital of Adzharia, the region, where Saakashvili also lost. For the first time the authorities have lost in Adzharia in which Saakashvili invested a lot of money.
The same situation is in Kutaisi, the second Georgian city. According to the official data, Saakashvili got about 40 percent of the vote, but in fact – about 30 percent. Saakashvili lost in the cities of Rustavi, Poti and Telavi. In other words, he lost the elections in almost all of the regional centers.
The exceptions are Zugdidi and Mingrelia. There Saakashvili got the majority. He might rank first in Zugdidi.
But he lost the elections in the absolute majority of the towns and regional centers. Up to 900 voters came to the polling stations where we managed to control the count of the votes. Saakashvili took less than 50 percent of the vote. However, in the polls where we could not watch over the vote, it appeared that in the same district up to 1500 voters came to one polling station, and 1300-1400 of them voted for Saakashvili.
Saakashvili took about 90 percent in the Kvemo-Kartli region where the Georgian Azerbaijanians live. But such a result supposes that many electors did the voting for 9-17 seconds. So, it is quite possible that far less people voted for Saakashvili. The same is true of Dzhavakhetia, the region with the Armenian population. It does not mean that the ethnic minorities support Saakashvili. In the cities (for example, in Tbilisi) the representatives of the ethnic minorities voted in the same way as the ethnic Georgians.
It follows that Saakashvili ascribed the majority of votes to himself. And officially, he became President after the first round. But he is elected President in the remote districts rather than in the regional centers.
In terms of politics, it signifies that the opposition is not considered to be weak any more. Even Saakashvili admits the opposition’s strength and says that it is necessary to carry on a dialogue with it. The opposition’s strength is also acknowledged by Saakashvili’s entourage and by those members of the administration of American President George Bush who favors Saakashvili. The West will recognize the outcome of the elections, but with difficulty. It says that the electoral fraud must be eliminated before the parliamentary elections that, judging by the plebiscite results, will take place in spring. The opposition insisted on that time.
We have got good results. As one of the Republican Party leaders, I am pleased with the work of our party. Our representatives led almost a half of the election headquarters, we have good results almost everywhere.
Saakashvili refuses to participate in the second round. He attributed 52 percent to himself. But as Saakashvili took less than 50 percent, we do not recognize his legitimacy.
So, in the near future the situation will not be calm. Saakashvili will be inaugurated, and we will conduct the parliamentary campaign in spring. I am sure that the opposition will win the parliamentary elections. It comes natural that the West and NATO will insist on elimination of the vote shortcomings and fraud. I believe that the West will exert more serious pressure on Saakashvili than it did during the presidential elections. The West may be afraid of destabilization in Georgia. But non-legitimate President Saakashvili favors the destabilization in a larger measure than the second round of the presidential election would do.
January 10, 2008
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