Georgia: National Movement Coasts to Victory

The ruling National Movement Party coasted to a widely expected victory in Georgia's October 5 local elections, seen as a referendum on the performance of President Mikheil Saakashvili's government. Reactions to the vote in the two breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, however, underlined serious policy challenges ahead for the Georgian authorities in conflict resolution.

In remarks televised after polls closed on October 5, President Saakashvili hailed what he termed a "convincing victory," based on exit poll data, for the National Movement and Georgia's reform process.

"The entire world has been watching us to see how our society would pass the test. We have passed this test perfectly," he said, in comments transcribed on Civil.ge. "Everyone should understand that the real work starts today, because we have promised our voters that the reconstruction process will continue and we should not let them down."

Preliminary results indicated that President Saakashvili's National Movement Party had won a clear majority of the votes cast nationwide.

The most detailed information was available for the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. The Central Election Commission announced on October 6 that the National Movement Party had won 66.42 percent of the vote for Tbilisi's city council. The party will hold 34 of the council's 37 seats.

An electoral bloc of two opposition Republican Party leaders and Conservative Party leader Koba Davitashvili finished a distant second, with 12 percent of the vote. Under Georgia's election law, parties must win at least 4 percent of the vote to be eligible for council seats elected by party lists. The opposition Labor Party and Industry Will Save Georgia Party both met that criterion, but former Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili's Georgia's Way party failed to meet the cut-off. Tbilisi's mayor will be chosen from among members of the city council.

In an official statement, the Council of Europe (CoE) observation mission reported that the elections had passed satisfactorily, with "significant progress in the conduct of voting." The vote showed that "Georgia . . has taken encouraging steps towards effective local democracy." The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) seconded that evaluation, commending the government for running the elections "in a professional and inclusive manner." Both the CoE and the OSCE, however, mentioned that a broader public participation and range of candidates would be desirable.

Opposition parties have argued that the short election campaign period favored the ruling National Movement, with insufficient attention paid to correcting voter lists or otherwise providing for an even playing field. The opposition Labor Party has called for the results of the October 5 vote to be thrown out.

Amidst discussions on infrastructure, anti-corruption campaigns and police performance, Georgia's position toward the pro-Russia leadership of the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has also acquired significance in this so-called referendum on reform. Russia recently instigated tough sanctions against Georgia following the arrest and subsequent release of four Russian military officers on espionage charges. [For details, see the Eurasia Insight archive.]

Most Georgian voters interviewed by EurasiaNet in the South Ossetia conflict zone tended to express support for the ruling National Movement Party, although some voiced frustration with how the government's policies are seen to have affected everyday living conditions. In South Ossetia, the Central Elections Commission of Georgia stated that some 75 percent of 7, 035 registered voters had taken part in the local elections at 20 polling stations.

Many residents said that they hoped that their vote for the National Movement would mean additional assistance from the Georgian government for repair of buildings, local roads or the provision of security. One man from the Georgian village of Kekhvi seemed drawn by the Saakashvili administration's policy of military reform and restructuring, a process he interpreted as meaning an armed resolution to the stand-off with South Ossetia's leaders. "If there is another war, I am ready to fight," Avto Piliani said.

In the village of Achabeti, residents reported that the National Movement organized a concert for residents the day before the October 5 vote, but some villagers said that the authorities should spend the funds in a different way. "It would be better, if they distributed flowers or, maybe, candies for children, instead of paying that much money for a pre-election party," villager Andria Berekashvili said.

One voter who travels every morning to the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali to sell her apples said that she had avoided the elections to express her protest at the way in which Saakashvili's policies "only complicate people's lives". "I will not vote, because I do not have trust," said Nina Samkharadze. "They closed Ergneti market [in 2004; a market for goods smuggled from Russia through South Ossetia], and so many people became jobless, both Georgians and Ossetians."

In an interview with EurasiaNet, Irina Gagloeva, chairwoman of South Ossetia's Press and Information Committee, termed the elections a "quite provocative" act.

"The Georgian authorities do not render any aid to the ethnic Georgians who reside in South Ossetia," she charged. "If the Georgian government really cares about its citizens, it should at least coordinate the elections with the quadripartite Joint Control Commission [which oversees the cease-fire in the conflict zone]," Gagloeva said. "It's a conflict zone, and all political activities should be agreed upon."

Georgian television station Rustavi-2 reported that Russian peacekeepers had interfered with voters in the predominantly ethnic Georgian region of Gali in Abkhazia traveling to polling stations to vote. The account was not immediately verifiable.

Elections were also held in the Georgian-controlled section of Abkhazia's Kodori Gorge, the new home for the region's pro-Georgian government-in-exile. Sergei Bagapsh, leader of the breakaway region, told the Russian news agency Interfax on October 6 that Abkhazia would not recognize the vote, however. "The Upper Kodori Gorge always was, is and will be a part of Abkhazia, so any elections held there by the Georgian authorities cannot be legitimate," he said.