- News>
- World
Georgian officials suspend vote count
Tbilisi, Nov 09: Election officials in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia have suspended the counting of ballots in the general election, as 10,000 protesters called for President Eduard Shevardnadze to step down.
Tbilisi, Nov 09: Election officials in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia have suspended the counting of ballots in the general election, as 10,000 protesters called
for President Eduard Shevardnadze to step down.
The officials said yesterday they had decided to stop
tallying votes in the disputed November 2 poll because of the
many complaints of irregularities received.
"There are a lot of complaints and until those complaints have been sorted out in the courts, I will not put out any results no matter what pressure I am put under," Nana Devdariani, the chairwoman of the Georgian electoral commission told.
Shevardnadze was in the fight for his political life, with protesters marching on downtown Tbilisi in the biggest political demonstration since a civil war in 1991 which eventually swept him to power.
Thousands vowed they would not budge from outside the country's parliament building until Shevardnadze, who has fallen out of favour because of a stumbling economy and increasing corruption, resigns.
Bureau Report
"There are a lot of complaints and until those complaints have been sorted out in the courts, I will not put out any results no matter what pressure I am put under," Nana Devdariani, the chairwoman of the Georgian electoral commission told.
Shevardnadze was in the fight for his political life, with protesters marching on downtown Tbilisi in the biggest political demonstration since a civil war in 1991 which eventually swept him to power.
Thousands vowed they would not budge from outside the country's parliament building until Shevardnadze, who has fallen out of favour because of a stumbling economy and increasing corruption, resigns.
Bureau Report