DUSHANBE, January 3, Asia-Plus — Two representatives from Tajikistan’s Central Commission for Elections and Referenda (CCER), Zafar Safarov and Parvina Rasoulova, will observe early presidential election in Georgia scheduled for January 5, Asia-plus has learned from Muhibullo Dodojonov, a spokesman for a CCER.
According to him, they went to Tbilisi today.
We will recall that seven candidates run for presidency in Georgia. Incumbent President Mikhail Saakashvili will face six rivals in a presidential election on January 5. Among them are the leader of the Labor party, Shalva Natelashvili, the head of the New Rightists, David Gamkrelidze, opposition financier and business tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili, Future party’s Gia Maisashvili, Irina Sarishvili of the Imedi political movement and wine producer Levan Gachechiladze, representing a coalition of opposition groups.
According to some Russian media, more than 800 foreign observers and some 500 local non-government organizations will observe the presidential election in Georgia.
Experts say Saakashvili”s chief rivals are Levan Gachechiladze and Badri Patarkatsishvili.
The December 30, 2007 Reuters item titled “Election a democracy test for Georgian president” says that there are no reliable polls in Georgia, but analysts predict Saakashvili, a 40-year-old U.S.-educated lawyer with a Dutch wife, will win about 60 percent of the vote.
According to them, the vote is unlikely to change Georgia”s pro-Western policies or its tense relations with Russia. All the leading candidates back Saakashvili”s drive for membership of NATO and the European Union.
