Saakashvili Completes His Triumph

Tuesday, 6 January, 2004

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Sebastian Smith

Georgians have flocked to the banner of radical reformer Mikael Saakashvili, bringing the “Rose Revolution” that started last year with the peaceful overthrow of the veteran leader Eduard Shevardnadze full circle.

According to the latest preliminary results, 36-year-old western-educated lawyer Saakashvili won by a landslide, securing more than 97 per cent of the vote in the Sunday, January 4 ballot, according to preliminary results. The other five candidates were completely eclipsed. Preliminary turnout figures, according to the Central Electoral Commission, were a massive 83 per cent.

"The people ensured the highest turnout for a ballot in Georgian history,” Saakashvili told reporters after his victory. “Grim predictions turned out to be untrue – these elections were the cleanest of any that have taken place.”

Despite huge organisational difficulties and worries about possible violence, international observers declared that the poll - if not fully fair - had been a big improvement on recent elections in Georgia.

Irregularities on the day were described by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE, and other observers as frequent, but not systematic.

At the 9th polling station in a school in Tbilisi's old town, voters queued quietly while officials let in only small numbers at a time. Conditions were far from perfect. There were no curtains on the voting booths, for example, and when an elderly, but energetic woman insisted on voting without having her wrist marked, the attendants eventually gave up and let her continue.

"It's the devil's mark, that's why I won't let them do it," said the woman, 67-year-old Lena Elizbarashvili, repeating a widely-held superstition.

At numerous polling stations the scene was similar: orderly queues of people who seemed unanimous in voting for Saakashvili, the man they affectionately call Misha. "He's got a strong character, he's got the skill, he's educated," said Elza Jalagania, a 55-year-old pianist after voting in Polling Booth 15, housed in the capital's Palace of Chess. "He seems nice too!" she smiled.

The OSCE, which had 450 observers spread around the country, said there had been a “welcome contrast” between this vote and the parliamentary poll that was annulled in November.

It was the irregularities in November that sparked the protests ultimately leading to the occupation of parliament by Saakashvili and his rose-waving supporters that forced the resignation of Shevardnadze the following day.

Even as Saakashvili awaits inauguration day on January 25 – which happens also to be Shevardnadze’s birthday – the country is already gearing up for new elections to the parliament, with a date expected to set for some time in the spring, possibly March.

“That will be the true test for the new authorities of their willingness and ability to conduct genuinely democratic elections,” said Matyas Eorsi, head of delegation from the OSCE’s parliamentary assembly.

One crucial area that the Central Electoral Commission, CEC, hopes to improve on is the drawing up of voter registration lists.

For the presidential vote the CEC took the radical step of scrapping existing lists, which included large numbers of dead voters, on the grounds that they were too flawed to be remedied. Instead, voters were asked to re-register.

This resulted in new, but far shorter lists. Large numbers of people are thought to have simply failed to re-register, thus losing their right to vote. The big turnout figures thus reflected a far-from-complete list of potential voters.

Saakashvili's charm seemed to have worked even on his enemies. A tired-looking Shevardnadze turned up at his local polling station early, hinting with a smile that he had actually voted for the man who threw him from power. Asked if he had advice for his former protégé, he said, "to work more and talk less".

The president-elect also enjoyed a major success in getting Aslan Abashidze, the leader of Ajaria, to allow elections in his semi-independent Black Sea autonomous republic.

Abashidze had vowed to boycott the vote, but gave in after numerous high level talks, including negotiations with the United States ambassador to Georgia, Richard

Miles.

Having called the overthrow of Shevardnadze a “crime” and Saakashvili an illegitimate leader, Abashidze himself cast a ballot shortly before polls closed. However, turnout was said by observers in Ajaria to be far below the national

average.

As soon as his victory appeared secure, Saakashvili held a press conference, praising the Georgian people and vowing to rebuild the country.

He used the opportunity to show off his language skills, answering questions in Georgian, English, Russian and French without hesitation. As if this were not enough, his Dutch-born wife Sandra Roelofs then came to the microphone and repeated the exercise, again answering questions in four languages.

Saakashvili acknowledges that his levels of support reflect huge expectations and that he must work quickly on tackling the country’s enormous problems.

His allies in the November revolution are expected to keep their roles, with Nino Burjanadze widely tipped to become parliament speaker, while Saakashvili has said he wants acting state minister Zurab Zhvania to retain the post, possibly to be converted into that of a full prime minister.

Saakashvili’s honeymoon period looks set to last for a while yet. In an early piece of good news for Tbilisi, the World Bank announced on January 5 that it hoped to finalise a new loans programme over the next two months.

He also received a warm endorsement from Washington. Adam Ereli, deputy spokesman for the US State Department said that, “We believe that the presidential election of January 4 marks a significant step forward in the development of democracy in Georgia.

“We look forward to working closely with President-elect Saakashvili to support Georgia's democratic and market economic reforms, fight against corruption and intensify relations with the US, Europe, and all of Georgia's neighbours,” Ereli said.

Sebastian Smith is Caucasus editor/trainer with IWPR in Tbilisi. Margarita Akhvlediani is IWPR's Caucasus regional coordinator, based in Tbilisi.