Elections 2016: Despite real attempts, no unrest in Georgia, says PM

The country’s Prime Minister says there are real attempts to cause unrest in Georgia ahead of next week’s Parliamentary Election but the Government will counter all attempts and ensure peace and stability.

Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili stressed the importance of holding the October 8 Parliamentary Elections in an open and transparent manner, and this included having no tolerance for any attempt to sabotage the election process.

Last night Kvirikashvili commented on the leak of a secretly taped conversation in which Georgia’s ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili and members of opposition United National Movement (UNM) allegedly discussed ways to overthrow the authorities in the days following next Saturday’s election.

Of course United National Movement is trying to achieve something [to stir unrest] but we see they have no public support,” Kvirikashvili said. 

People need stability and despite real attempts to cause unrest, we won’t let this happen.”

Kvirikashvili stressed the leak of the audio recording must be investigated and it must be determined if the clip is authentic or not.

It’s obvious that it’s in the best interests of the Government for the elections to be held transparently and democratically, and that it’s held in a peaceful and stable environment that’s confirmed by international observers.”

The State Security Service has launched an investigation into the recording to determine its authenticity and to investigate its content relating to conspiracy to overthrow the Government. 

Kvirikashvili noted this year Georgia had an "unusually long” four month pre-election period, during which the Government had invited a number of international observers to monitor the election process. All international observers say this pre-election period is the calmest in the history of Georgia.

UNM was established by Saakashvili and previously ruled the country from 2003 to 2012 but the party was defeated by the current Georgian Dream (GD) coalition at the 2012 Parliamentary Elections.