Shevardnadze Allies Win Top Spots in Georgian Poll [View All]

[Socialist Christian]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=586&ncid=586&e=8&u=/nm/20031120/wl_nm/georgia_dc

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TBILISI (Reuters) - Two political blocs loyal to President Eduard Shevardnadze won a November 2 parliamentary election, Georgian election officials confirmed on Thursday, adding to fears opposition protests could descend into violence.




The opposition, which has staged a string of protests since the poll, including the biggest in a decade last Friday, denounced the results and vowed to press ahead with a nation-wide march to demand Shevardnadze, 75, steps down.


"This parliament is illegitimate. It is formed following Shevardnadze's orders," Mikhail Saakashvili, leader of an opposition bloc placed third in the poll, told reporters before the results were officially announced.


"We are talking about...the transformation of a former democrat, former liberal, once darling-of-the-west President Shevardnadze into a trivial, post-Soviet dictator who ignored the will of his people