Georgia votes in tense parliamentary polls

Georgia voted on Monday in parliamentary polls with the ruling party facing a billionaire-led opposition in a tense contest seen as a test of the ex-Soviet state's democracy after a torture scandal. President Mikheil Saakashvili's ruling party is facing its biggest challenge since coming to power from an opposition coalition led by billionaire tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili in a struggle that became increasingly bitter after jail torture revelations sparked nationwide protests. The highly-polarised campaign in the country of 4.5 million people, described by OSCE election monitors as "confrontational and rough", has raised fears of post-poll unrest. Georgia's main backers, the US and the EU, have called for a fair vote and emphasised that democratic progress is crucial for the small Caucasus republic's ambitions to join Western institutions like NATO. Saakashvili has promised the "most free, most transparent" polls since Georgia became independent in 1991. Ivanishvili however has alleged that the electoral environment was rigged in favour of the ruling party and has threatened protests if Western observers don't declare a fair vote. The polls are crucial for Georgia's future because its parliament and prime minister will become stronger and the presidency's powers will be significantly reduced under constitutional changes that come into force after Saakashvili's two-term rule ends in 2013. Both Saakashvili's United National Movement and Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream bloc have staged shows of strength in recent days with mass rallies that brought tens of thousands onto the streets. Ivanishvili accuses Saakashvili, whose party has dominated Georgia since the 2003 'Rose Revolution', of establishing an authoritarian regime. "Saakashvili's system must be destroyed," he told a huge rally Saturday. However the Georgian president says the billionaire would stop the government's modernisation programme and throw the country back to its corrupt past. "Our country's fate is being decided -- not only for the next four years, but for the next decades," Saakashvili said in a televised address late Sunday. Poverty and unemployment were key campaign issues, with the rivals offering populist promises of big spending on social welfare and job creation. Georgia is a mountainous republic located on a strategic pipeline route that takes Caspian Sea oil and gas to Europe. Since independence from the Soviet Union, it has gone through economic collapse, civil war and repeated outbreaks of political unrest which have seen two presidents deposed. Its most recent conflict, a brief war with arch-foe Russia in 2008, saw it effectively lose two Kremlin-sponsored breakaway provinces where Moscow has now stationed thousands of troops, casting a shadow over Georgia's security. Both Saakashvili and Ivanishvili say they want EU and NATO membership for Georgia, although the billionaire also wants to mend relations with Russia. A total of 14 parties and two blocs are standing for the 150-seat parliament which is elected for a four-year term. The electoral system is a combination of single-mandate constituencies and seats determined by proportional representation. More than 3.6 million people are eligible to vote in the elections which are being monitored by international observers from the OSCE. Polls close at 1600 GMT.