Georgia Official Admits Election Fraud
The powerful chief of President Eduard Shevardnadze’s Security Council acknowledged Friday that this month’s parliamentary elections were tainted by widespread fraud and called for a new vote, signaling a rift in the government. Busloads of opposition demonstrators, meanwhile, advanced on the capital, aiming to prevent a new parliament from convening Saturday. Security Council Secretary Tedo Dzhaparidze, who oversees Georgia’s police and security forces, warned that the political crisis could slide into bloodshed even worse than the street fighting that erupted in Tbilisi immediately after the 1991 Soviet collapse. Full Story