Financial Times: “Georgia’s ruling party leads exit polls in parliamentary elections“

Georgia's October 8 Parliamentary Election results have confirmed the country's status as a "standard-bearer for democracy in the region", says Financial Times in its report of Election Day.

The story reported on the results of exit polls, released hours after voting stations closed at 8pm Tbilisi time.

The two exit polls reported wildly different margins of victory for Mr Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream party. But both – including that commissioned by Rustavi 2, a channel seen as being close to UNM – showed Georgian Dream ahead, in line with pre-election analyst expectations," said the news piece by the newspaper's reporter Jack Farchy.

'So far today has been quieter than previous elections and that is positive,' said Hans Gutbrod, an independent analyst on the Caucasus."

The report said Election Day had proved "calm by the tumultuous standards of Georgian politics".

The author of the Financial Times piece also explained the complete picture on the composition of the new Georgian parliament would only become clear in several weeks' time due to run-off stages likely to be held to determine final results in majoritarian vote.

Read full article on ft.com.