Tbilisi, Georgia : Voters in Georgia are choosing a new parliament in a heated election on Monday that will decide the future of the pro-Western government of President Mikhail Saakashvili.
Emotions are running high in an election that is competitive not only for Georgia but for much of the former Soviet Union. If Mr Saakashvili's party loses, it would be the first time in Georgia's post-Soviet history that a government has been changed not through revolution but at the ballot box.
The governing party, which has dominated parliament, is up against a diverse opposition coalition led by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire businessman who has posed the most serious challenge to Mr Saakashvili since he came to power almost nine years ago.
About one million of Georgia's 3.6 million eligible voters live in Tbilisi, the capital, where opposition support is strongest. Lines formed outside some polling stations in the morning, and the Central Election Commission said turnout in the first four hours of voting had surpassed 25 percent.
Under Mr Saakashvili, the former Soviet republic has aligned itself with the United States, while striving to join the European Union and NATO one day.
Mr Saakashvili has accused Mr Ivanishvili of serving Kremlin interests and intending to put Georgia back under Russian domination, which the opposition leader has denied.
"A lot of things are being decided right now in our country, for the region, for the development, for the future not only of this nation, but for what happens to the European dream in this part of the world. What happens to the idea of democracy in this part of the world, what happens to the idea of reforms in this part of the world," he said, his Dutch wife and their younger son standing behind him.
"Without a doubt, Mr Saakashvili and all of his people should leave," said Mamuka Gigienishvili, a 55-year-old physicist who voted in Tbilisi. "We have had enough of him acting like a czar."
Another voter, 49-year-old small business owner Veriko Berishvili, pointed to all that Mr Saakashvili had done to reform Georgia since coming to power in early 2004. She specifically named the disbanding of the corrupt traffic police and creation of a modern force, a widely praised program carried out by Mr Saakashvili's longtime interior minister whom he named prime minister in June.
"I think we should allow this team to fulfill its promises: to improve the situation in agriculture, decide the problem of joblessness, universal health insurance," she said. "Now all of this is being handled by Prime Minister Vano Merabishvili. Look at his baby, the police force. It is the best in the former Soviet Union."
Mr Ivanishvili, the opposition leader, repeated his claims of violations.
"For the first time in Georgian history the Georgian people are managing to conduct really democratic elections, or elections which are very close to being democratic because the government has made many violations already," he said. "There were many violations before election day and I think there will be violations today, too, but the wisdom of the Georgian people and historic experience has helped us to make it possible for the first time to change the government through elections."
Mr Saakashvili came to power after anger over a rigged parliamentary election in November 2003 led to the Rose Revolution and the ouster of Eduard Shevardnadze, who had taken power in 1992 after a military coup. Mr Saakashvili won a presidential election in January 2004 with 96 percent of the vote and reelection four years later.
Monday's election sets in motion a change in the political system that will reduce the powers of the presidency. The party that wins the majority in parliament will have the right to name the prime minister. The bigger shift will come after Mr Saakashvili's second and last term ends next year, when many of the president's powers will be transferred to the prime minister.
If Mr Saakashvili's party wins on Monday, he has said he does not intend to become prime minister after the presidential election in October 2013. Such a job swap would bring unwelcome comparisons to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who served for four years as prime minister to avoid a constitutional ban on more than two consecutive terms as president.
Mr Saakashvili's appointment of Mr Merabishvili was seen as an indication that he may be intending to hand off power to his powerful ally.
Mr Ivanishvili is not running for a seat in parliament but has said that if his Georgian Dream coalition wins he would serve as prime minister at least for a year or two to put his team in place.
Mr Saakashvili's party, the United National Movement, now holds 119 of the 150 seats in parliament.
Slightly more than half of parliament members, 77, are chosen based on how well the parties do in a vote based on party lists. The remaining 73 members are directly elected by majority vote in their constituencies.
Emotions are running high in an election that is competitive not only for Georgia but for much of the former Soviet Union. If Mr Saakashvili's party loses, it would be the first time in Georgia's post-Soviet history that a government has been changed not through revolution but at the ballot box.
The governing party, which has dominated parliament, is up against a diverse opposition coalition led by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire businessman who has posed the most serious challenge to Mr Saakashvili since he came to power almost nine years ago.
About one million of Georgia's 3.6 million eligible voters live in Tbilisi, the capital, where opposition support is strongest. Lines formed outside some polling stations in the morning, and the Central Election Commission said turnout in the first four hours of voting had surpassed 25 percent.
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Under Mr Saakashvili, the former Soviet republic has aligned itself with the United States, while striving to join the European Union and NATO one day.
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Mr Saakashvili has accused Mr Ivanishvili of serving Kremlin interests and intending to put Georgia back under Russian domination, which the opposition leader has denied.
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"A lot of things are being decided right now in our country, for the region, for the development, for the future not only of this nation, but for what happens to the European dream in this part of the world. What happens to the idea of democracy in this part of the world, what happens to the idea of reforms in this part of the world," he said, his Dutch wife and their younger son standing behind him.
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"Without a doubt, Mr Saakashvili and all of his people should leave," said Mamuka Gigienishvili, a 55-year-old physicist who voted in Tbilisi. "We have had enough of him acting like a czar."
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Another voter, 49-year-old small business owner Veriko Berishvili, pointed to all that Mr Saakashvili had done to reform Georgia since coming to power in early 2004. She specifically named the disbanding of the corrupt traffic police and creation of a modern force, a widely praised program carried out by Mr Saakashvili's longtime interior minister whom he named prime minister in June.
"I think we should allow this team to fulfill its promises: to improve the situation in agriculture, decide the problem of joblessness, universal health insurance," she said. "Now all of this is being handled by Prime Minister Vano Merabishvili. Look at his baby, the police force. It is the best in the former Soviet Union."
Mr Ivanishvili, the opposition leader, repeated his claims of violations.
"For the first time in Georgian history the Georgian people are managing to conduct really democratic elections, or elections which are very close to being democratic because the government has made many violations already," he said. "There were many violations before election day and I think there will be violations today, too, but the wisdom of the Georgian people and historic experience has helped us to make it possible for the first time to change the government through elections."
Mr Saakashvili came to power after anger over a rigged parliamentary election in November 2003 led to the Rose Revolution and the ouster of Eduard Shevardnadze, who had taken power in 1992 after a military coup. Mr Saakashvili won a presidential election in January 2004 with 96 percent of the vote and reelection four years later.
Monday's election sets in motion a change in the political system that will reduce the powers of the presidency. The party that wins the majority in parliament will have the right to name the prime minister. The bigger shift will come after Mr Saakashvili's second and last term ends next year, when many of the president's powers will be transferred to the prime minister.
If Mr Saakashvili's party wins on Monday, he has said he does not intend to become prime minister after the presidential election in October 2013. Such a job swap would bring unwelcome comparisons to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who served for four years as prime minister to avoid a constitutional ban on more than two consecutive terms as president.
Mr Saakashvili's appointment of Mr Merabishvili was seen as an indication that he may be intending to hand off power to his powerful ally.
Mr Ivanishvili is not running for a seat in parliament but has said that if his Georgian Dream coalition wins he would serve as prime minister at least for a year or two to put his team in place.
Mr Saakashvili's party, the United National Movement, now holds 119 of the 150 seats in parliament.
Slightly more than half of parliament members, 77, are chosen based on how well the parties do in a vote based on party lists. The remaining 73 members are directly elected by majority vote in their constituencies.
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