Election troubles in Georgia

I haven't seen much in the international papers on Saakashvili's election troubles, though here they say he is in deep trouble.

Additional support to his own party in parliament has been provided by followers of Nino Burjanadze, the Speaker of Parliament. But last week she withdrew her support for Saakashvili since when they assembled the party lists for election candidates, her supporters were not placed as high as she would have liked. Saakashvili's party was furious, with the defection coming so close to the actual election (on May 21). No time to produce other candidates as the lists are closed now. No time to smooth over the spat.

Some people reckon Saakashvili could lose, as the opposition has managed to get its act together and present a united front. The election could be more interesting than expected.

There are lots of rumours about Georgia trying to get Abkhazia back. Seems the wrong time to try, just before the elections, especially if it went horribly wrong.

But also on the rumour mill is the proposal that if Saakashvili loses, he might launch into Abkhazia, get it back and come back a hero. If it were so simple, you would have thought he would have done it already.


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