Georgian presidential election to proceed as scheduled: official

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 24, 2003

Georgian presidential election to proceed as scheduled: official

Despite concerns over a possible boycott by certain organizations and regions, Georgia's presidential elections will go ahead as scheduled in early January,top election official said Wednesday.

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Despite concerns over a possible boycott by certain organizations and regions, Georgia's presidential elections will go ahead as scheduled in early January,top election official said Wednesday.

Citizens have the right to boycott elections, but such conduct would have no major impact on the election process due to an expected high voter turnout, Zurab Chiaberashvili, the Central Election Commission chief told Xinhua.

Recent polls show that over four-fifths of Georgians surveyed said they would cast their ballots on Jan. 4 to elect a new president for the former Soviet republic.

Chiaberashvili said Georgia has received 6 million euros (4.84 million US dollars) from the international community to fund the upcoming presidential election and parliamentary election scheduled for next spring.

International observers from Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will oversee the elections to ensure their fairness, he added.

Chiaberashvili ruled out the possibility of fraud during the elections, noting that law enforcement agencies would react immediately to any irregularities.

There were speculations that the autonomous republic of Adzharia could stay out of the presidential poll, but Georgian State Minister Zurab Zhvania said earlier this week that he believed Adzharia will take part, even though his visit to the republic failed to secure any such promise.

Adzharia, with a population of about 400,000, supported former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze in last month's parliamentary elections. Aslan Abashidze, leader of the region, has called for a delay of the presidential vote, saying his republic would otherwise boycott the election.

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