Georgia prepares for controversial election

Georgians will choose a new president on 5 January in an election described by a Council of Europe mission as "the most competitive since Georgia regained independence" in 1991.

The extraordinary election was called by President Mikheil Saakashvili in early November following violent clashes between security forces and opposition demon-strators in the capital, Tbilisi. The clashes cost Saakashvili, who had come to power on the back of the ‘Rose Revolution’ in November 2003, much of his credibility as a democratic reformer, but the opposition remains divided and has failed to come up with a credible political strategy.

Disenchantment with Saakashvili’s economic reforms, which are seen by many Georgians as benefiting only a small business elite, is widespread, but he is far ahead in the polls.

A pre-election mission by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, a human-rights watchdog, concluded that despite the short time-span since the elections were called, technical preparations appeared to be well underway. The mission also raised a number of concerns about the abuse of administrative resources for campaigning and unequal access to the media.

A private broadcaster seen as sympathetic to the opposition, Imedi TV, was closed down in early November but resumed broadcasting on 12 December.

The Council of Europe’s mission made headlines when an opposition leader, Levan Berdzenish-vili, called mission head Mátyás Eörsi a "Hung-arian Jew". Berdzenishvili later denied having had any anti-Semitic intentions, but Terry Davis, the Council of Europe’s secretary-general, protested against the remark.

Berdzenishvili’s Republican Party also questioned the legitimacy of the poll, as did other parties, but seemed to move away from that position following criticism by the Council of Europe mission, which had in a statement called on Georgia’s politicians to refrain from under-mining public confidence in the election process.

Georgians will choose a new president on 5 January in an election described by a Council of Europe mission as "the most competitive since Georgia regained independence" in 1991.