Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze has said the parliamentary elections on 31 October were "yet another magnificent victory of Georgian democracy" , and thanked voters for taking part.

In his weekly interview on Georgian radio, Shevardnadze said the governing Union of Citizens had gained a comfortable victory and that Georgia was no longer facing the danger of an opposition "parliamentary coup".

The following are excerpts from Shevardnadze's interview broadcast by Georgian radio on 1 November 1999.

Good morning. I will limit myself to a very brief comment, because, for the time being, we can only speak of preliminary results.

Yet, obviously, these preliminary results are not expected to undergo dramatic changes.

The elections have taken place.

First of all, I would like to congratulate the whole of Georgia and every citizen of our country on the occasion of yet another magnificent victory of Georgian democracy, that is, national statehood.

In saying this, I mean not only the preliminary results of the elections but also the fact that the Georgian population has demonstrated strong civic consciousness and a strong sense of patriotic responsibility.

National victory

By holding the 31 October elections, and by ensuring the undoubtedly democratic way of holding them, their fairness and openness, Georgia has finally proved that it truly deserves the wide universal recognition and the status of a member of the Council of Europe.

Without the slightest exaggeration, I would say that this is a common national victory for every citizen of Georgia.

Considering this, our congratulations are meant for all the citizens of Georgia who have performed their civic and patriotic duty irrespective of whom or for which party they cast their votes for.

I would like to address words of gratitude to every link of the central or local structures and organizations, including employees of the law-enforcement bodies, who, together with the population, spared no effort to create appropriate conditions for this great victory.

Confident victory

I would also like to address words of gratitude to representatives of various parties and blocs, who tried their best to create a normal atmosphere during elections so that a free choice could be made.

We already know that nearly 60% of the electorate took part in the elections.

This, undoubtedly, is a fairly high turnout rate for parliamentary elections.

As regards the will of the majority of the voters, according to preliminary, I repeat, preliminary data, which may change later, a confident victory in the 31 October elections has been gained by the Union of Citizens of Georgia.

It is indicative that this party has gained far more votes this time than it did in the 1995 elections when it was just beginning its parliamentary activities.

According to the same preliminary data, the Union of Citizens will be allocated the majority of seats in parliament, the number of which will be more than in the previous parliament elected in 1995.

This creates a very fertile soil and favourable circumstances for even better and more effective legislative activities, as well as for the performance of all the functions of parliament.

Professional

The parliamentary majority, as well as, obviously, the opposition, will be more professional, because the number of professional lawyers and economists, as well as businessmen, industrialists and the like has increased.

Indeed, the gaining of the majority in parliament by no means rules out but rather implies constructive cooperation with our honourable colleagues, representatives of the opposition in parliament.

The Union of Citizens has always been prepared for such cooperation with the minority in parliament, considering the significance of common state interests.

Such cooperation proved to be a success on many occasions.

According to the same preliminary data, the parties constituting the Revival of Georgia bloc (led by the head of Georgia's Autonomous Republic of Ajaria, Aslan Abashidze) are guaranteed that they have confidently cleared the 7% threshold.

But the exact proportion of seats has yet to be finalized.

As for other parties, some of them have come close to the required quota and we will find out whether they have gained seats in parliament or not in the next few days, or probably the next few hours, after all the votes have been counted.

Wisdom and shrewdness

Elections in single-seat constituencies where members of parliament were elected in first-past-the-post voting were also successful.

I am not going to speak about either final or preliminary results.

This will be done by the Central Electoral Commission later.

On the whole, I believe that in these elections the population of Georgia once again confirmed its wisdom, and shrewdness, as well as the understanding of the truth that although the nation may make one mistake in a century or a millennium, it should try not to make another one.

Indeed, it would be better not to make any mistakes at all.

As far as my past references to a parliamentary coup are concerned, during my meetings with the population of Georgia and the electorate, I said repeatedly that such a danger did exist.

I can say confidently now that such a danger no longer exists, because the population seems to have made the choice it was expected to make at the current stage of the country's history.

Age-long striving

On 31 October 1999, that is, on the threshold of a new century and a new millennium, Georgia showed an unequivocal support for the strategic state course that was mapped out in the end of the 20th Century not by the president alone and not by the Union of Citizens of Georgia alone, but rather by our nation, the whole population of the country.

This course reflects the age-long striving of our much-endured and honourable nation for independence, freedom, revival and prosperity.

Every generation of the Georgians has carried these immortal ideals through centuries.

The nation confirmed its loyalty to its historical choice.

From this point of view, the 31 October is the continuation and actual implementation of the 31 March great national referendum.

Our next major concern is to resolve organisational issues as quickly as possible, to complete the election process. You know that the second round of voting will have to be held in some constituencies. We must ensure that the new parliament begins to perform its duties as soon as possible.

Obviously, the whole system of the executive authorities will have to increase the intensity of its work ten-fold in order to implement in practice commitments taken together with the legislative authorities, that is, to turn words into deeds.

I would like to express profound gratitude to foreign observers who are representing numerous states and international organizations - as far as I know over 200 foreign observers attended the elections - and whose vigorous activities have undoubtedly helped minimize the number of violations of the law on elections.

Trust

It is significant that the general assessment made by them, at least by most of them whom we were in touch with last night and early this morning, about the elections held in Georgia is favourable.

Most of them believe that Georgia has taken yet another step along the path of its democratic development.

As for remarks with regard to infringements, some shortcomings should be rectified immediately, while others will be taken into consideration in order not to be repeated in future.

I believe that the factor of trust played a major role in the victory of the Union of Citizens in Georgia.

I cannot regard the expression of trust by the population as unexpected.

If I have the right to express my opinion, I would say that the Union of Citizens of Georgia, the country's president and his team have been creating much more guarantees for stability and revival than other forces.

I have never doubted this.

However, this does not imply the diminution of the merits of other forces and other parties.

Let us see what results the next elections will bring.

Source: Georgian Radio, Tbilisi, in Georgian 1 Nov 99