news desk
\nTBILISI
\nAround 25,000 Georgians protested Sunday against the election of a ruling party-backed candidate to the presidency and demanded snap parliamentary polls in a move that threatens to complicate the transition of power in the Western-backed nation.
\nHolding Georgian and EU flags, protesters alleged vote-buying and other irregularities as they packed Rustaveli Avenue in front of the parliament building in the centre of the Georgian capital Tbilisi.
\nThe former reformist president and leader of the 2003 \u201cRose Revolution\u201d Mikheil Saakashvili addressed the huge crowd by video link from Amsterdam, where he lives in self-imposed exile.
\n\u201cMisha! Misha!\u201d chanted supporters as the flamboyant 50-year-old politician appeared on a big screen.
\n\u201cGeorgia\u2019s future is being born on this square today,\u201d said Saakashvili, accused by the authorities of abuse of power.
\n\u201cWe will fight peacefully but we will never give up,\u201d he said, flashing the victory sign at the end of his speech.
\nOn Wednesday, former French diplomat Salome Zurabishvili was elected the ex-Soviet nation\u2019s first woman president, beating a candidate backed by an alliance led by Saakashvili\u2019s party.
\nZurabishvili has said her election was a step forward for women and a move closer to Europe.
\nBut opposition leaders including Zurabishvili\u2019s rival Grigol Vashadze have refused to accept the result, pointing to instances of alleged vote-buying, voter intimidation and ballot-stuffing in the election\u2019s second round.
\nFresh street protesters could spark concern for the country, which has seen civil wars, mass demonstrations and unrest since gaining its independence in 1991 with the breakup of the Soviet Union.
\nThe vote was the small South Caucasus nation\u2019s last direct leadership poll as it transitions to a parliamentary form of governance.
\nIn the first round, held in October, French-born Zurabishvili failed to take the 50-percent-plus-one-vote needed to win outright.
\n– \u2018Election fraud\u2019 –
\nAhead of the second round Vashadze was narrowly leading in opinion polls. However Zurabishvili gained more than 59 percent on Wednesday, while her rival topped 40 percent.
\nThe new head of state will be a largely ceremonial figure, but the vote was seen as a trial run for the contest between billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili\u2019s ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition in more important parliamentary polls set for 2020.
\n\u201cGeorgia does not have a president now,\u201d Vashadze, a career diplomat, said to roaring applause from the protesters.
\nHe said the results of the \u201cstolen election\u201d should be annulled and snap parliamentary elections held.
\nHe said the authorities had to overhaul the country\u2019s electoral system and by December 16 establish a working group to hold talks with the opposition.
\nMany protesters accused tycoon Ivanishvili, seen by many as the country\u2019s de facto ruler, of stealing people\u2019s votes.
\n\u201cI am here to protest against election fraud,\u201d Liana Partsvania, 63, told AFP.
\n\u201cPeople took to the streets today because the elections were rigged,\u201d said another protester, 20-year-old Gia Mgeladze.
\nThe vote was also seen as a test of Georgia\u2019s democratic credentials as it seeks European Union and NATO membership.
\nMonitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the election was competitive but they also raised concerns about misuse of administrative resources.
\nTensions increased ahead of the second round, as the opposition accused the government of voter intimidation and claimed that ruling party activists had attacked Vashadze\u2019s campaign staff.
\nZurabishvili in turn said she and her children had received death threats from people affiliated with Saakashvili\u2019s United National Movement.
\nIn what critics derided as \u201cvote-buying\u201d ahead of the election, Ivanishvili promised the government would drastically increase social spending and pledged to spend his own money to write off the bank loans of more than 600,000 people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
news desk TBILISI Around 25,000 Georgians protested Sunday against the election of a ruling party-backed candidate to the presidency and demanded snap parliamentary polls in a move that threatens to complicate the transition of power in the Western-backed nation. Holding Georgian and EU flags, protesters alleged vote-buying and other irregularities as they packed Rustaveli Avenue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n