Georgia's president appears to win vote

TBILISI, Georgia - Georgia's embattled president appeared to have narrowly won reelection in a tightly contested snap vote, elections officials announced yesterday.

If the preliminary results are borne out, Mikhail Saakashvili will clear a big hurdle in his quest to restore his tarnished reputation.

The once wildly popular hero of a pro-Western revolution and free-market reform was fighting to win 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff. Late yesterday, election officials said a preliminary count showed he had won 52.8 percent.

The count had dragged on all day and into the night while this bitterly divided country waited to hear who among the seven candidates would emerge as president. But even before the votes were tallied, there was little hint of uncertainty in the streets of Tbilisi.

Saakashvili's followers celebrated his victory as soon as the polls closed on Saturday - and a wrathful opposition protested that it had been cheated by rigged elections. Without waiting for the count, the two sides seemed to slip effortlessly into the roles they had long expected to play.

Thousands of anti-Saakashvili demonstrators gathered on the banks of the Mtkvari River yesterday afternoon. Many were elderly people who picked their way precariously over the frozen roadways.

"Our votes were lost. They falsified the election," said Gunala Djanelidze, 65. "Why do you think so many people came out in this horrible weather?"

The protesters insisted that wine magnate Levan Gachechiladze, the leading opposition candidate, was the rightful winner.

In a country where deep suspicion divides the government and its foes, both sides had anxiously awaited the verdict of international election monitors.

In the end, a much-anticipated report from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe backed up Saakashvili's insistence that the elections were free.

The foreign observers noted "significant challenges" but endorsed the vote. The results should be accepted as legitimate, they said.

This was just the endorsement Saakashvili needed to burnish his pro-democracy image. Discontent had built against his rule for years, with complaints of cronyism and polarization growing. Tensions exploded in November when riot police attacked anti-government demonstrators with tear gas and clubs.

Saakashvili, staunchly unapologetic about the beatings and gas, went on to declare a state of emergency and shutter an opposition TV station.

Criticism flared around the world as observers questioned whether the U.S.-educated liberal was hardening into an authoritarian ruler. Pelted with condemnations, Saakashvili called for the snap elections.