Never a dull moment
Georgia held parliamentary elections on Wednesday, and though the ruling party won the day, it was not without some serious drama which has, of course, led to much finger-pointing, speculating and insinuating on all sides.
An opposition leader was shot on the way to a polling station, buses bringing ethnic Georgians from across the Abkhazia border to vote exploded, and opposition supporters threatened to ambush the Central Elections Commission…but any hope of storming of the CEC evaporated when a night time rally turned out to be sparsely attended.
Why the poor showing? A soccer match, according to opposition organizers, who say President Saakashvili scheduled elections to coincide with the League of Champions final match broadcast, banking on the liklihood that the event would take priority over politics in the minds of Georgian men that evening.
Kommersant (”Russia’s daily online”) has the full story here and here.