Georgia's president re-elected

Mikhail Saakashvili was re-elected as Georgia’s president with 52.8% of the vote, election officials said tonight.

The results threatened to inflame tensions in the former Soviet republic, where the opposition has accused his government of falsifying the vote.

His main contender, Levan Gachechiladze, received 27% in yesterday’s election, said Levan Tarkhnishvili, head of the Central Election Commission.

Mr Tarkhnishvili said the tally was based on results from nearly all precincts in Georgia, excluding Georgian military personnel serving in peacekeeping operation in Kosovo and Iraq.

Mr Gachechiladze has accused the government of falsifying the vote. Claiming that he finished first, he has called for a second round.

The announcement took the country by surprise on Orthodox Christmas Eve. The vote count had trickled in slowly, and just hours earlier election officials said only about 30% of precincts had been counted.

Earlier, the influential election observer mission of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE, said the election revealed “significant challenges,” but was generally in line with democratic commitments.

The OSCE pointed especially to “an inequitable campaign environment” due to state activities overlapping Mr Saakashvili’s campaign.

The US-educated Mr Saakashvili, once praised as an icon of democracy in the former Soviet Union, shocked his Western allies when he crushed anti-government demonstrations late last year and shut down an independent television station.

Opposition leaders said the campaign was unfair and alleged widespread voting violations.

Addressing a crowd of some 5,000 people in a snowy square in Tbilisi, Mr Gachechiladze claimed he came first in the vote and called for a second round. He cited a tally by his supporters who served on election commissions across the country.

“Saakashvili lost, and it cannot happen that Georgia will not defend it’s freedom, that we won’t win,” Mr Gachechiladze said.

Mr Gachechiladze said the opposition would contest the election results in courts, but would return to the streets if their efforts proved futile. He called for another rally on Tuesday.

Nino Burdzhanadze, the parliament speaker who is serving as acting president during the campaign, conceded there had been some violations, but said her government welcomed the criticism from foreign observers and would analyse and seek to correct the mistakes in future elections.

“What is most important is that, in general, as a whole, the elections were free and fair and democratic,” Ms Burdzhanadze said. “You should take into account that Georgia is a new democracy... and of course we still need to continue to develop democratic institutions, to develop democracy in the country.”

Russia, which imposed an economic blockade on Georgia after repeated disputes with Mr Saakashvili, was quick to criticise the president.

“The indignation of the opposition supporters over (Mr Saakashvili) essentially declaring himself to be the victor, without waiting for official preliminary results, is completely understandable,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Mr Saakashvili’s supporters poured onto the streets last night, tooting car horns and waving white-and-red national flags, celebrating victory based on exit poll results.

While still waiting for official results, Mr Saakashvili said the exit poll showed him winning and called for reconciliation.

“I’m extending my hand to those who voted for me and to those who took part in the elections,” he told supporters.

After casting his ballot in Tbilisi, Mr Saakashvili said he was dedicated to having a free and fair election. “We are committed to having Georgia as a beacon of democracy in our part of the world,” he said.

During his four years in office, Mr Saakashvili has cracked down on organised crime and corruption, modernised the police force and the army, restored steady supplies of electricity and gas, and improved roads. The result has been annual economic growth of about 10% and a steady rise in foreign investment.

The economic success has not yet defeated poverty, and after the November protests, Mr Saakashvili made social welfare one of his top priorities.

Mr Gachechiladze, 43, represents an opposition coalition that wants to do away with the presidency. If a parliamentary system was established, as the coalition wanted, he had said he would step down.

The opposition has been undermined, however, by a scandal that has discredited one of the leading candidates, billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili. He has been accused of plotting to overthrow the government and has acknowledged offering large sums of money to police if they side with protesters.