Georgia Votes for New president

Political uncertainty looms as three candidates
fight to replace pro -Western Mikheil Saakashvili
after decade -long rule.
Georgia is voting for a new president in an
election that will end Mikheil Saakashvili's
decade -long rule, but is unlikely to end political
uncertainty in the former Soviet republic .
The front - runner to replace Saakashvili is Georgi
Margvelashvili , a member of the Georgian Dream
coalition , which defeated the president's party in
an election a year ago .
Opinion polls put Margvelashvili , formerly an
education minister , ahead of the two other main
candidates - David Bakradze , a member of
Saakashvili's United National Movement and a
parliamentary speaker; and Nino Burjanadze, one
of the leaders of the 2003 Rose Revolution that
toppled Eduard Shevardnadze .
The campaign, in contrast to many previous
elections in post- Soviet Georgia , has been
peaceful .
Margvelashvili is little known. His main foreign-
policy goal is to pursue close ties both with the
West and with Russia - a balance the country has
long failed to achieve.
He says he will refuse to take part in a run - off if
he fails to win outright by securing more than
half the votes .
Ivanishvili 's retreat
The departure of Saakashvili, a pro- Western
leader who has served the maximum two terms,
should end the bickering that has hindered
policy- making and the investment climate, and
reinforce Georgian Dream' s hold on power .
However , the future is clouded by Prime Minister
Bidzina Ivanishvili' s decision to step aside as
well.
The retreat of Ivanishvili , Georgia 's richest man
and Georgian Dream 's leader, increases
uncertainty in a country that is strategically
important for Russia and Europe , which receives
Caspian oil and gas through pipelines via
Georgia.
Ivanishvili , 57 , has dominated politics in the
South Caucasus country since entering politics
two years ago , but says his job will be complete
once Saakashvili departs .
After the election , constitutional changes take
effect which will shift power from the presidency
to the government and parliament.
Ivanishvili has not said who will be prime
minister , although no major policy changes are
expected .
The arrest of several former ministers, including
Vano Merabishvili , ex-prime minister, and dozens
of other former officials has caused alarm abroad ,
and two European Union ministers have appealed
to Ivanishvili not to try to prosecute Saakashvili.
Problem of poverty
Ivanishvili denied on Friday that he would seek to
jail his rival , and said he would not dictate the
government 's actions after he leaves office in
about one month .
Georgia allied itself with the US under Saakashvili
and pushed to join NATO, still a distant prospect .
Georgian Dream has taken a similar path, but
sought better ties with Russia .
Under Saakashvili, who rose to power after the
Rose Revolution , the country of 4 .5 million fought
a five - day war with Russia in 2008, from which
Russia emerged in control of two rebellious
Georgian regions.
He won plaudits for reducing corruption and
bureaucracy , and for launching economic reforms,
but was criticised for not overhauling the justice
system , and poverty remains a problem .
Ivanishvili 's critics say the economy has
deteriorated under him.
After years of robust growth , gross domestic
product grew only 1 . 5 percent in the second
quarter this year, down from 8 .2 percent in the
same period a year ago .