Saakashvili begins 2nd term in Georgia

TBILISI, Georgia, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Mikhail Saakashvili enters his second term as president of Georgia with much less support than he had when first elected.

Saakashvili was scheduled to be inaugurated Sunday. Opposition groups, who claim the election was rigged, planned to demonstrate against him, the BBC reported.

The president said change is painful.

"We really went through not only economic reforms, we went through cultural revolution," he said. "We went through the most profound civilization transformation you can imagine in this part of the world."

Peter Semneby, the European Union envoy to the South Caucusus, met with opposition leaders Saturday. He told reporters afterward that there were problems with the vote, the Russian Interfax news agency said.

But Semneby also called the election the most competitive the former Soviet republic has ever had.

Levan Gachechiladze, who came in second to Saakashvili, said Semneby had promised to use whatever influence he has with the government to persuade officials to guarantee the independence of the courts, press and election agencies.

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