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Patarkatsishvili and Others Registered
The Central Elections Commission of Georgia registered well-known businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili yesterday as a candidate in the presidential elections set for January 5. Patarkatsishvili presented the CEC with 202,170 signatures in his support. Only 50,000 are required. The CEC was lenient in its application of eligibility rules to Patarkatsishvili and chose not to investigate reports that Patarkatsishvili, who became a Georgian citizen in 2001 and is said to be the wealthiest man in Georgia, has Russian and Israeli citizenship as well, which is illegal in Georgia. He is expected to become Mikheil Saakashvili's main opponent.
Leader of the Hope Party Irina Sarishvili was registered at the same time as Patarkatsishvili. Sarishvili heads the Igor Giorgadze Foundation, named after the former Georgian security minister who is now an internationally fugitive charged with organizing politically-motivated murders and attempting to assassinate former Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze in 1995. On Saturday, the CEC registered Party of the Future candidate Georgy Maisashvili.
The newly registered contenders join candidates Mikheil Saakashvili, running for his second term; united opposition candidate Levan Gachechiladze, New Right leader Davod Gamkrelidze and Labor leader Shalva Natelashvili. Thus seven out of the 13 declared candidates for president of Georgia have been officially registered.
The opposition makes frequent reference to campaign irregularities uncovered by the Human Rights Center in Georgia. Among its accusations against Saakashvili's United National Movement is that it has dead people on its party rolls.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 10, 2007
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