Protesters Demand New Elections In Georgia
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
TBILISI, Georgia — Georgian opposition protesters opposed to pro-Western President Saakashvili demanded new parliamentary elections, denouncing last month’s polls as rigged. Mr. Saakashvili’s ruling United National Movement won the May 21 polls with almost 60% of the vote, taking 120 seats in the 150-seat chamber. The main opposition party, the United Opposition Council, which got 16 seats, said it would boycott parliament at the rally in the capital Tbilisi.
“The May elections were illegitimate, therefore the new parliament is illegitimate and we’re not going to work with the Saakashvili dictatorship until new elections,” the leader of the United National Council, Levan Gachechiladze, said.
Georgia’s elections were seen as a test of Mr. Saakashvili’s democratic credentials.
