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Georgia's ruling party leads in parliamentary elections
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-05-23 10:43

MOSCOW -- Georgia's ruling United National Movement party is leading in the parliamentary elections with a wide margin, the electoral authority said Thursday.

The party has garnered some 63 percent of the first batch of votes counted, the Central Elections Commission (CEC) said after 40 percent of ballots were counted.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has claimed victory for his party, according to reports reaching here from Tbilisi.

"The new Georgian parliament will be much more pluralist and multi-party, and it is evident that, in addition to the ruling party, several more parties will qualify for the parliament, and I am prepared to cooperate with all of them," Interfax quoted Saakashvili as saying.

There are around 3.7 million registered voters and voter turnout in the one-day elections was 55 percent, the CEC said.

Some 500 international observers, alongside hundreds of domestic ones, monitored the voting.

A total of nine parties and blocs took part in the elections but only three major opposition groups have managed to reach the 5-percent threshold.

The "United Opposition: National Council - the New Right" held a rally in Tbilisi at midnight on Wednesday to reject the exit polls.