By Vivek Thiagarajan
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

A crowd of 30,000 protesters gathered to show their disapproval of the results of the presidential election.  The main opposition candidate, Levan Gachechiladze, reaffirmed his commitment to them to fight for their democracy.  “We will not compromise.  We will not take a single step back. We will not let them falsify the election.” (AP)

Last week, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was reelected president.  However, his main opponent Gachechiladze contends that votes were not tallied correctly, because he contends that Saakashvili should not have received more than 50% of the vote.  The Georgian election law usually allows for two rounds of presidential election.  This allowance was created to account for the multiple numbers of candidates who run for the presidency, which this year was nine candidates running for president.  Typically, the top two vote getters will move on to a final round of voting, which would have really helped Gachechiladze since the seven candidates that were eliminated probably would have supported Gachechiladze.  However, in this election Saakashvili received a majority vote (53.5%) and so it was not necessary to hold a second round vote.

The outright election of Saakashvili caused opponents such as Gachechiladze to assert that the votes were miscounted. Therefore, he began discussions with the acting president of Georgia, Nino Burjanadze.  Burjanadze was made president by Saakashvili to enable Saakashvili to be able to run for another term in office.  However, Gachechiladze has promised that he will continue to fight for the democracy of his country without compromise as he talks with the president.

Gachechiladze has rejected the idea that he would take a government post as a payment to stop protesting the legitimacy of the election.  “Making deals on government positions is not going to happen. I am one of those who do not recognize [Saakashvili as President],” he said.  (Civil Online Magazine)

The resolution of this election and the preservation of the democratic process is essential in Georgia as it tries to deepen its ties with the European Union and the West. If the election is not resolved quickly it could lead to a possible bitter rivalry between the opposing parties.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press- Georgia Opposition Holds Protest Rally- 15 January 2008

Civil Online Magazine- Gachechiladze on ‘Speaking’ with Authorities- 16 January 2008

Reuters- Georgia opposition vows court move to win recount- 15 January 2008