Saakashvili Secures Presidency Amid Heavy Turnout in Georgia

Calling it "probably the fairest election" in Georgia's history, National Movement leader Mikheil Saakashvili declared himself the winner of the January 4 presidential poll in Georgia. Saakashvili promised reforms to streamline government and reduce corruption, while cautioning that fostering stability in Georgia "will not happen in a day or two."

Georgia's Central Election Commission (CEC) said it aimed to make preliminary results available on January 5. CEC Chairman Zurab Chiaberashvili indicated that Saakashvili could end up with roughly 95 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, exit polls showed Saakashvili winning over 85 percent. Turnout was reportedly heavy.

In declaring victory, Saakashvili stressed that the voting went relatively smoothly and was largely untainted by irregularities. Chiaberashvili told Rustavi-2 television on January 4 that there had been "no alarming reports" of electoral troubles.

"There were several polling stations – four or five out of Georgia's 3,000 polling stations, I have been told – where there were irregularities," Saakashvili said during his victory address. "I categorically demand that the returns from these polling stations be declared null and void, so that nobody has any doubts that the election was 100 percent fair and 100 percent clean."

Saakashvili has vowed to make a break with past political practices in Georgia. As such, it was vital for his reform aspirations that the vote occurred without the appearance of vote-rigging. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The effort by former president Eduard Shevardnadze's administration to manipulate the November 2 parliamentary vote prompted popular protests that paved the way for Saakashvili's sudden rise to power. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Although Saakashvili appeared to largely achieve his aim of securing victory without the appearance of large-scale fraud, at least one prominent political enemy alleged that vote-rigging had occurred. Labor Party leader Shalva Natelashvili complained that the CEC had been packed with supporters of the Saakashvili-dominated provisional government. "Everything was decided in advance," Natelashvili said in comments broadcast by the Russian RTR television channel.

Saakashvili brushed aside such criticism, claiming a broad mandate to pursue an ambitious reform agenda. "We have received a very important mandate from our population to clean up the country: to consolidate power here; to make it efficient; to make it investment friendly; to make it peaceful and prosperous."

The president-elect went on to say that his top priorities would be to implement constitutional changes that would facilitate the reorganization of the national government, to launch a wide-ranging campaign to curb corruption and to improve Georgia's relations with Russia.

The government reorganization would establish a cabinet headed by a prime minister. Saakashvili said he intends to appoint Zurab Zhvania, one of the leaders of the current provisional government, to the post. The president elect also announced that the government would now focus on setting a date for new parliamentary elections.

Previous efforts to curtail corruption have stalled in the face of stiff resistance. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Saakashvili, however, pledged that his initiative would produce results. "We have prepared a very clear, serious anti-corruption package that will enable us once and for all too address corruption," Saakashvili said. He added that the anti-graft program would seek to bring to justice "those officials who brought Georgia into a crisis."

Shevardnadze surprised many Georgian political observers by endorsing Saakashvili shortly before the election. After casting his ballot for Saakashvili, Shevardnadze appeared to suggest that the president-elect may experience a turbulent transition from firebrand opposition leader to chief executive. "Misha [a diminutive form of Saakashvili's first name] has to learn how to work – it is not easy to be president," RTR quoted Shevardnadze as saying. "An ability to speak well is not enough; one has to know how to talk to people, advisers or ministers."

While striving to raise hopes for reform in Georgia, Saakashvili said progress would be gradual. "Miracles do not happen in a day or two," he said. "We will manage to show everyone that things are changing for the better – that the revolution [the protests that forced Shevardnadze's resignation] was not made in vain."