By empty (11/6/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Georgia\'s Central Election Commission (CEC) announced late on 6 November that with some 90 percent of the ballots counted, the Democratic Revival Union (DAK) headed by Adjar Supreme Council Chairman Aslan Abashidze had taken the lead with 23.5 percent of the vote, followed by the pro-presidential For a New Georgia (AS) bloc with 21 percent and the opposition National Movement (EM) with 19.2 percent.
Georgia\'s Central Election Commission (CEC) announced late on 6 November that with some 90 percent of the ballots counted, the Democratic Revival Union (DAK) headed by Adjar Supreme Council Chairman Aslan Abashidze had taken the lead with 23.5 percent of the vote, followed by the pro-presidential For a New Georgia (AS) bloc with 21 percent and the opposition National Movement (EM) with 19.2 percent. Reuters on 6 November quoted a CEC spokeswoman as saying that the final results would not be made public on 6 November as planned, noting that the election law stipulates that final results are to be made public within 20 days of the ballot. The increase in support for the DAK was based on the returns from Adjaria, where 98 percent of the approximately 269,000 votes were cast for that party. Observers in Tbilisi earlier questioned the accuracy of updated voter lists that gave the present number of voters in Adjaria as 289,000 compared with only 170,000 in 1998. Earlier on 6 November, Tsotne Bakuria, who heads the DAK branch in Tbilisi, had demanded a recount of all ballots cast, claiming that votes cast in Tbilisi for his party were attributed during the count to the EM. (Caucasus Press)