PRELIMINARY BALLOT COUNT IN GEORGIA SUGGEST TWO PARTIES HAVE MADE IT INTO PARLIAMENT

TBILISI, MARCH 30, 2004, (RIA Novosti). - The Central Electoral Commission of Georgia has by now counted almost all the ballots cast in this past weekend's parliamentary polls. The preliminary tally indicates that only two parties have been able to surpass the vote threshold of 7 percent-the ruling party and a right-wing opposition bloc.

Commission Chair Zurab Chiaberashvili told a press conference in the capital of Tbilisi Tuesday that President Mikhail Saakashvili's National Movement party was leading by a wide margin, with its 67.02 percent; the Right Opposition Party of Industrialists (led by David Gamkrelidze and Gogi Topadze) followed with 7.6 percent of the vote; Adzharian leader Aslan Abashidze's Union of Democratic Revival was third with 6.13 percent; and the Labor Party, led by Jumber Natelashvili, trailed with just 2.37 percent. All the other running parties and blocs reportedly received less than 1 percent of the vote.

About 0.19 percent of the electors voted against all the candidates. Fraudulent ballots, if any, will not be counted in, Chiaberashvili said, adding that 172 polling stations across Georgia were yet to submit their ballots to the Central Electoral Commission.