GEORGIA: Georgian parliamentary polls, seen as a guide to who will succeed veteran President Eduard Shevardnadze in 2005, got off to a bumpy start yesterday, with some polling stations failing to open and electoral lists incomplete.
But initial confusion in the volatile ex-Soviet state eased as the day went on. By afternoon, voting was proceeding smoothly at most polling stations.
The polls are of much interest to the West, with a pipeline now being constructed and due to carry Caspian oil across the Caucasus through Georgia and Turkey to Western markets in 2005.
Twelve years of independence in Georgia, led since 1992 by Mr Shevardnadze, has brought neither stability nor a robust democratic culture.
Mr Shevardnadze (76) is still remembered in the West for his leading role, as Moscow's foreign minister, in ending the Cold War and unifying Germany.
But at home he has become deeply unpopular over unkept promises to root out corruption and improve living standards, with average monthly wages equivalent to $30 (€26), and quell separatism that sprang from a bloody civil war.
The Black Sea region of Abkhazia is defying Tbilisi's rule and looking more to Moscow, a source of great strains with Russia. South Ossetia lies also beyond central control and fighting across the border in Chechnya casts its own shadow.
Mr Shevardnadze's party is one of five likely to clear the 7 per cent barrier needed to enter the 235-seat assembly.
Despite procedural flaws, the white-haired president told reporters as he cast his ballot: "I am sure it will be fair."
Two of four opposition parties likely to win seats on party lists are led by the President's former allies - parliament speaker Mr Nino Burdzhanadze heads one bloc, while a second is headed by former justice minister Mr Mikhail Saakashvili.
Mr Shevardnadze, who has survived many assassination attempts since returning to Georgia from Moscow, is barred from running for a new term in 2005. Washington, Moscow and Ankara, among others, view the situation with concern, hoping for a smooth handover of power after his departure.