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Georgia Opposition Chief Declares Victory in Parliamentary Polls
[An Nahar] Georgia's billionaire-led coalition was leading President Mikheil Saakashvili's ruling party in parliamentary elections Monday according to exit polls, but it was unclear which will win the final majority.Two separate exit polls for Georgian television gave preliminary figures putting tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream coalition ahead in the proportional-vote section of the contest by five or 10 percent. Ivanishvili confidently declared victory but the final vote percentages may not necessarily be reflected in parliamentary seats because almost half of mandates are decided on a first-past-the-post rather than a proportional representation system that provided the basis for the exit polls. The showdown between Saakashvili's ruling United National Movement and the Georgian Dream coalition led by Ivanishvili has turned increasingly bitter after a prison torture scandal prompted nationwide protests. Posted by: Fred 2012-10-02 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=353079 |