Shevardnadze Wins 2nd Term

President Eduard Shevardnadze appeared assured of easily winning a second term as leader of the small former Soviet republic of Georgia on Sunday, with early election returns giving him a big lead. The opposition claimed there had been massive vote fraud.

With 24 percent of the vote counted, Shevardnadze had 81 percent, while ex-Communist leader Dzhumber Patiashvili trailed with 14 percent, election officials said. Four other candidates received small numbers of votes.

Going into the election, the only real challenge facing Shevardnadze was that he needed to get more than 50 percent of the vote to avoid a run-off.

Patiashvili said he appeared to have lost, but alleged there had been massive vote-rigging by the government.

"There were gross violations of law and voting rules, and it was impossible to win under such conditions," he said.

An international election observer was ejected from a voting station by officials who said he exceeded his authority. The opposition was considering filing a protest.

The election was declared valid after preliminary results indicated some 68 percent of eligible voters had turned out, easily clearing the minimum 50 percent, said Central Election Commission chief Dzhumber Lominadze.

Most of the country's five million people see little choice besides Shevardnadze, who has brought relative stability to the country since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

Shevardnadze's key political advantage over his competitors has been his status abroad, gained when he was the Soviet Union's foreign minister under Mikhail Gorbachev. His calls for closer ties to the West have helped bring foreign loans and world attention to this republic in the Caucasus.

Dmitry Oragvelidze, a 30-year-old lawyer, said he was casting his vote for Shevardnadze. "He is a well-known politician, not only in Georgia, but throughout the world. He'll get things done."

Other voters complained that Shevardnadze had failed to revive the economy.

Iosif Kutzishvili said he was voting for Patiashvili. "Shevardnadze has destroyed everything," the 60-year-old economist said. "I have a job, but there is virtually no work to be had in Georgia."

The campaign staff of ex-Communist leader Patiashvili alleged government officials had stuffed ballot boxes at some voting stations to aid Shevardnadze. The Central Election Commission denied the allegations.