[Andria Hall, Cnn Anchor:] Voters in the former republic Soviet republic of Georgia have given President Eduard Shevardnadze a second term in office by a landslide. With 61 percent of the ballots tallied, Shevardnadze has 80 percent of the vote. CNN's Mike Hanna takes a look now at the election and its significance.
[Mike Hanna, Cnn Correspondent:] Apathy is the greatest threat to Georgia's young democracy, but organizers are confident that a final poll of well over 50 percent will be achieved thus insuring that the election is constitutionally valid. [on camera]: Despite the poor performance of his government in the past, many still respect Shevardnadze as the architect of an independent Georgia, and on this day in particular there are strong memories of the struggle for democracy. [voice-over]: The flowers placed outside Tbilisi's parliament in memory of those who died on April 9, 1989. It was exactly 11 years ago that dozens were killed in a Soviet crackdown on Georgian nationalists. This was just the beginning in a tumultuous sequence of events that led to the establishment of a sovereign Georgian republic. After the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, the eruption of a bitter civil war in Georgia, as the opposing nationalist groups battled for control. Thousands of refugees fled in panic, and the deaths continued in secessionist conflicts in other parts of Georgia, in south Ossetia, which is still only partially under Georgian control, and in Abkhazia in the west, where after months of vicious fighting the Georgian troops withdrew and separatists unilaterally declared independence. Throughout this period, Eduard Shevardnadze remained in control, eventually bringing about a tenuous peace and stability. He says now his work is not over.
[Pres. Eduard Shevardnadze, Georgia:] The program that I am proposing to the people will complete the construction of the Georgian state and bring to the country a better life for every citizen.
[Hanna:] Words that may not easily pierce the veil of cynicism in a society still to experience any real benefit of democracy. But the hundreds of thousands of votes cast in these elections, a signal that many of the republic's people still live in hope. Mike Hanna, CNN, Tbilisi, Georgia.