TBILISI (AFP) -- Polling stations opened in Georgia early Sunday as voting got under way in the Caucasus mountains republic's parliamentary elections.

Opinion polls have ranked the government of veteran President Eduard Shevardnadze, blamed by many voters for economic mismanagement and corruption, well behind the opposition.

The Opposition has voiced fears that the government will try to rig the vote in its favor, warning that if that happens thousands of voters would take to the streets in protest.