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TBILISI : Georgia's opposition announced a boycott of parliament and street protests Friday as final election results confirmed a landslide victory for President Mikheil Saakashvili's party.
Saakashvili's United National Movement took 120 of the 150 seats in parliament after winning nearly all constituency seats and scoring 59.5 percent in voting for party lists, the electoral commission said.
The United Opposition Council, which trailed in second with 16 seats, said it would boycott parliament and called for public protests on Monday.
"The United Opposition Council is refusing to enter the new parliament," bloc leader Levan Gachechiladze said on the steps of parliament. "We call upon all Georgian citizens to rally on May 26 to start a new dissident movement in 21st-century Georgia."
Levan Berdzenishvili, a leader of the opposition Republican Party, told AFP his party would also boycott the two seats it won.
But the leader of the Christian Democrats, which took six seats, told Georgian television his party would not join the boycott. It was unclear whether the Labour Party, which also took six seats, would participate.
David Bakradze, a former foreign minister who led Saakashvili's party in the election, said the boycott would be an insult to voters.
The opposition "must realise that their supporters, a significant number of people, gave them their confidence, which they have no right to neglect," he told AFP.
A number of European Union states rallied to Saakashvili's side after an election that international observers said was an improvement on previous polls but still suffered flaws.
The elections were intensely scrutinised by outside powers, while Georgia is also engaged in a stand-off with Russia over two separatist Georgian regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
On Thursday, observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said Georgia had clearly intended a democratic vote but that there had been "problems," including intimidation of voters.
In Brussels, Georgian Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili acknowledged the elections had "not been perfect" and pledged that her government would look into any complaints.
"We understand well the process has not been perfect in itself, no matter what ambitions we had to make it as perfect as possible," she told reporters.
Georgia has sought Western support in its stand-off with Russia and the vote was closely watched as a test of its ability to meet democratic standards.
Georgian officials cast the criticism in a positive light, saying the observers must be applying higher standards as the country moves closer to Western-style democracy.
Saakashvili earlier said Georgia had come close to war in its dispute with Russia over the separatist territories. Behind the dispute lies his pro-Western course and drive to join NATO, analysts say.
Several European leaders voiced support for Saakashvili after Wednesday's polls. The United States had yet to comment.
Germany, which has been cautious on Georgian NATO membership, said the elections represented an "important step" towards democracy and called on all parties to work together to press ahead with reforms.
"The government congratulates the people of Georgia on the peaceful and on the whole fair elections... With this Georgia has made a further important step towards a democratic society," foreign ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger said.
Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, whose country currently holds the European Union presidency, described the vote as "encouraging."
The EU commissioner for external relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, said the elections showed "substantial progress."
The presidents of Lithuania and Poland, countries that were also under Moscow's control in the Soviet era, praised the vote.
Saakashvili has been praised as a reformer since coming to power in 2004, but was criticised last November after sending riot police to suppress an opposition protest, shutting down a television station and briefly imposing emergency rule.
- AFP /ls
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