(Reuters) -
President Mikheil Saakashvili faced his biggest test in a decade in
power on Monday as Georgians voted in a parliamentary election
overshadowed by a prison abuse scandal that has fuelled accusations of
government repression.
Ivanishvili, a tycoon with a fortune nearly
half the size of Georgia's economy, hopes the prison scandal will
convince undecided voters that Saakashvili has become an undemocratic
leader who tramples on rights and freedoms.
Video
of torture, beatings and sexual of prison inmates led to street
protests after it was aired on two television channels opposed to
Saakashvili. They undermined the president's image as a reformer who had
imposed the rule of law and rooted out post-Soviet corruption.
"I'm
voting against violence and abuse - how can I do otherwise after what
we have all seen on TV?" Natela Zhorzholia, 68, said outside a polling
station at a school in the capital, Tbilisi.
She said she would vote for Ivanishvili's six-party Georgian Dream movement.
The election also heralds constitutional changes which will affect any future leadership.
Saakashvili,
44, must step down after a presidential vote next year, when reforms
will weaken the role of head of state giving more power to parliament
and the prime minister.
But if his
United National Movement retains its dominance of parliament, that may
give him a way to remain in charge of the country of 4.5 million, an
important gas and oil transit route to the West,
"Besides
being a contest for parliament, it is also a shadow leadership
election," said Thomas de Waal, a Caucasus expert at the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
EUROPEAN DREAM
Saakashvili
highlighted the importance of the vote after casting his ballot with
his Dutch wife and their young son, and said: "The fate of our country's
statehood is being decided today".
The
vote will affect "not only this nation but what happens to the European
dream...what happens to the idea of democracy... what happens to the
idea of reforms in this part of the world," he said.
Many
Georgians just want political and economic stability. The economy, hit
by the 2008 war and the global financial crisis, has been growing again
since 2010 but inflation is likely to hit 6-7 percent this year.
"I voted for peace and stability," Georgy Ugrekhelidze, 76. "I want this government to carry out what it has started."
Saakashvili's
supporters say the election could determine whether Georgia moves
closer to Russia or remains a U.S. ally. They accuse Ivanishvili, who
made much of his money in Russia, of being a Kremlin stooge, a charge he
denies.
During the war, Russia
strengthened its control of the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and
Abkhazia, which make up about one-fifth of the Caucasus nation's
territory.
The West wants a stable
Georgia because of its role as a conduit for Caspian Sea energy supplies
to Europe and its pivotal location between Russia, Iran, Turkey and Central Asia.
"The most important thing is that those who are dissatisfied should not create disorder," said voter Yelena Kvlividze, 45.
Ivanishvili told a rally on Saturday: "This regime's hours are numbered."
But has also said Georgian Dream will accept any outcome deemed legitimate by international observers.
A
poll by the U.S. National Democratic Institute in August gave UNM 37
percent support against 12 percent for Georgian Dream but showed 43
percent of respondents could vote either way. There have been no major
polls since the abuse scandal.
Elected
in 2004 after the Rose Revolution protests toppled President Eduard
Shevardnadze, a former Soviet foreign minister, Saakashvili cultivated
close ties with Europe and the United States and sought to bring Georgia
into NATO.
He curbed police bribe-taking, made frequent power outages a thing of the past and presided over an economic resurgence.
But
opponents say he has curtailed democracy, persecuted the opposition,
pressured courts and controlled the media. He also faces criticism for
leading Georgia into the war with Moscow in which Russian forces routed
the army.
(Reporting by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Steve Gutterman and Angus MacSwan)
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