Georgia: Election results stand

TBILISI, Georgia - Georgia's election commission Thursday validated the ruling party's win in parliamentary elections, rejecting allegations of fraud that drew thousands of protesters into the streets of the former Soviet republic.

President Eduard Shevardnadze immediately ordered the newly elected parliament to convene Saturday, but the opposition vowed to try to block the session and began rallying its supporters to march on the capital, Tbilisi.

The showdown between the president and his opponents has become this country's deepest political crisis in years.

The Nov. 2 election was marred by widespread allegations of fraud and vote-rigging, drawing criticism from the United States and sparking a week of protests against the government.

In Washington, State Department issued unusually strong criticism Thursday, with spokesman Adam Ereli saying the results reflect "massive vote fraud" in some regions and "do not accurately reflect the will of the Georgian people."

The pro-Shevardnadze For a New Georgia bloc came in first with 21.32 percent of the vote. The Revival party, which has criticized the government in the past but sided with the president in the postelection crisis, finished second with 18.84 percent, said Eka Melkadze of the Central Election Commission.

Protest leader Mikhail Saakashvili's party, the National Movement, came in third with 18.08 percent of the vote.

"We won't join the new parliament and we will try to prevent it from holding its session," Saakashvili said shortly before the official results were announced.

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