Georgia Country Elections

Pulling up to a voting station in his bulletproof Mercedes, Georgian leader Eduard A. Shevardnadze cast his ballot Sunday to pick a new president and Parliament in an election he hoped to win. Flashing a confident smile at applauding bystanders, Shevardnadze voted at a teachers college in Tbilisi's Vake district. "There's one name I know. I'll mark that one," he joked before disappearing behind the yellow curtains of a voting booth, having jumped the long line of waiting voters. About 3.

Eduard A. Shevardnadze has been elected president by a landslide, according to preliminary results released Monday, in a vote that signaled confidence in a leader who has brought relative stability to a country recently rent by war. "A triumph has been won by the forces of democracy," Shevardnadze proclaimed in his weekly television address a day after simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections. The initial ballot count gave Shevardnadze 75% of the vote, beating five other candidates.

It is early in the evening for the lovers, friends and families strolling down Rustaveli Prospekt. Couples peer into the cheerful cafes. Others pass the time chatting with friends. Some are merely making their way home. Only a few months ago, streets were deserted in the evening. Georgia was without enough electricity to power street lights, and armed gangs roamed the city, preying on anyone out after dark. Chairman of the Supreme Council Eduard A.

Pulling up to a voting station in his bulletproof Mercedes, Georgian leader Eduard A. Shevardnadze cast his ballot Sunday to pick a new president and Parliament in an election he hoped to win. Flashing a confident smile at applauding bystanders, Shevardnadze voted at a teachers college in Tbilisi's Vake district. "There's one name I know. I'll mark that one," he joked before disappearing behind the yellow curtains of a voting booth, having jumped the long line of waiting voters. About 3.

This land of vineyards and impassioned politics tried democracy once but chose a leader so harsh and mercurial he sparked an armed revolt. Today, Georgia tries again, with Eduard A. Shevardnadze, the former Soviet foreign minister, the only candidate for the top job.

De facto leader Eduard A. Shevardnadze, who narrowly escaped an assassination attempt last month, registered as a candidate for the Nov. 5 presidential election and is strongly favored to win. A day earlier, Shevardnadze had launched his campaign in the western city of Kutaisi with a pledge not to allow the republic of 5 million people racked by ethnic dissension to be dismembered.

Eduard A. Shevardnadze has been elected president by a landslide, according to preliminary results released Monday, in a vote that signaled confidence in a leader who has brought relative stability to a country recently rent by war. "A triumph has been won by the forces of democracy," Shevardnadze proclaimed in his weekly television address a day after simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections. The initial ballot count gave Shevardnadze 75% of the vote, beating five other candidates.

Here in Josef Stalin's birthplace, where they know a good deal about strong leadership, Georgians streamed to the polls Sunday to demonstrate their support for former Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze, running unopposed to become Georgia's elected leader. Shevardnadze, seeking the chairmanship of Parliament, is expected to win massive backing.

It is early in the evening for the lovers, friends and families strolling down Rustaveli Prospekt. Couples peer into the cheerful cafes. Others pass the time chatting with friends. Some are merely making their way home. Only a few months ago, streets were deserted in the evening. Georgia was without enough electricity to power street lights, and armed gangs roamed the city, preying on anyone out after dark. Chairman of the Supreme Council Eduard A.

De facto leader Eduard A. Shevardnadze, who narrowly escaped an assassination attempt last month, registered as a candidate for the Nov. 5 presidential election and is strongly favored to win. A day earlier, Shevardnadze had launched his campaign in the western city of Kutaisi with a pledge not to allow the republic of 5 million people racked by ethnic dissension to be dismembered.

Here in Josef Stalin's birthplace, where they know a good deal about strong leadership, Georgians streamed to the polls Sunday to demonstrate their support for former Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze, running unopposed to become Georgia's elected leader. Shevardnadze, seeking the chairmanship of Parliament, is expected to win massive backing.

This land of vineyards and impassioned politics tried democracy once but chose a leader so harsh and mercurial he sparked an armed revolt. Today, Georgia tries again, with Eduard A. Shevardnadze, the former Soviet foreign minister, the only candidate for the top job.