PM Garibashvili congratulates Georgia on hosting free and democratic elections

The Prime Minister of Georgia is congratulating the country’s citizens for conducting free, democratic and open elections.

The 2014 municipal elections were held today and the PM made his statement shortly after polling station closed this evening, where two separate exit polls revealed Georgian Dream ruling coalition candidate David Narmania led the race for Tbilisi Mayor.

"This election is very important for our country's democratic development. Most importantly I want to congratulate each and every citizen's choice. I would also like to congratulate our candidates’ win and our loyal supporters,” Garibashvili said.

The PM believed Narmania would be Tbilisi’s new Mayor, which was indicated by exit polls released at 8pm.

"It is time to wait for the final result [but] today's win of our coalition has confirmed that we are indeed the only political force. Despite the unprecedented high threshold, we believe we will win fairly and confidently,” he said.

Garibashvili believed it was very important for the ruling coalition that the elections took place without serious violations.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) will begin to publish preliminary results throughout the evening.

By law, the deadline for the CEC to summarize and publish final voting outcomes is July 9. Before that, you will be able to see CEC preliminary results here, on an interactive map published by Agenda.ge.