Ruling party wins Georgia vote, opposition alleges fraud

The ruling Georgian Dream party won Georgia's parliamentary polls, early results showed Sunday, though accusations of vote fraud from the opposition sparked fears of political instability in the Caucasus nation.
Georgia's Western allies are watching closely to see if the strategic nation - praised as a rare example of democracy in the former Soviet region - can cement gains after its first transfer of power at the ballot box four years ago.
With votes from more than 82 percent of precincts counted, the central election commission said Georgian Dream was leading main opposition force the United National Movement (UNM) by 49.26 percent to 26.46 percent. For the first time in Georgia's post-Soviet history, a small pro-Russian party, Alliance of Patriots, received five percent of the vote needed to enter parliament.
Western observers said polls were competitive though noted procedural problems during counting.
After voting closed on Saturday the Georgian Dream was quick to declare victory based on exit polls which gave it a strong lead over the UNM.
"This was a truly free and fair election, which firmly cements Georgia's democracy," Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said after the vote ended.
But the UNM accused the government of attempts to "steal elections" and held a protest rally outside the central election commission.
"Votes have been stolen from us. We will defend our votes," Nika Melia, chief of UNM's campaign and an MP candidate, told protesters.
Most opposition parties, including Democratic Georgia, the Labour Party, and the State for People, also cried foul, accusing the government of "massive vote rigging."
But international observers from the OSCE, Nato, Council of Europe and European Parliament said the elections "were competitive, well-administered and fundamental freedoms were generally respected."
"The calm and open campaign atmosphere was, however, impacted by allegations of unlawful campaigning and some incidents of violence," the monitors said in a joint statement.