Georgian opposition to challenge vote as Saakashvili claims victory

Tbilisi: Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili declared victory yesterday in a parliamentary election that the opposition said was rigged in his favour and vowed to challenge by calling street protests.

Saakashvili said Wednesday's vote was fair, but the rigging allegations and the threat of protests will test his claim to lead the most democratic state in the former Soviet Union.

The pro-Western president needs a clean election to persuade sceptical European states that it is worth defying Russian objections by making Georgia, a key transit route for oil and gas supplies from the Caspian Sea to Europe, a Nato member.

Saakashvili said his United National Movement could get close to a constitutional majority - or two thirds of the seats - in parliament. Partial results showed his party won more than 61 per cent of the vote.

"Yesterday was the triumph of the will of the Georgian people," Saakashvili said in an address to the nation. "No-one can raise their hand against the will of the Georgian people." "Even I was astonished by the big level of support which we got in these parliamentary elections," he added.

But the opposition said voters had been intimidated by local officials and police and that the media had been dominated by coverage of the ruling party.

"This was a criminal election," said David Gamkrelidze, an opposition leader. "We together with the people must achieve the cancellation of the election results and the calling of a new parliamentary election."

Election monitor

Europe's leading election monitor, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), is to give its verdict on the fairness of the election.

Saakashvili, a US-educated lawyer, swept to power in the peaceful 2003 "Rose" revolution. He promised market reforms and to re-orient his country towards Europe and the United States.

But the democratic credentials of the 40-year-old leader were tarnished when he sent riot troops to crush protests last November. He won a snap January presidential election which critics said was rigged.