Prime Minister praises “democratic and transparent” election

The Prime Minister of Georgia has fondly appraised yesterday’s self-government elections and said it was the first time in Georgia's history the country had held a "truly democratic, free and fair" election.

At a press conference today, PM Irakli Garibashvili said yesterday was a "groundbreaking" and "historical" day for Georgia.

 It is with great pride that I state the following. For the first time in the history of independent Georgia, we all witnessed a truly democratic, free, and fair local self-government election. Sixteen thousand candidates participated in this election, which is an unprecedented number. Our citizens were able to elect about two thousand candidates. 

Garibashvili thanked the Central Election Commission (CEC) for organising and conducting the elections in a comprehensive way.

I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to every participant of this election, voters, first of all. I would like to thank all officials of the election administration, as well as candidates and observers. 

The leader accepted a second round of voting was justified in a number of districts and said this was a true sign of democracy. He said this may result in extra costs however it allowed citizens to again vote for their chosen candidate. 

Garibashvili said by setting this precedent, it would "undoubtedly promote the strengthening of our country and the consolidation of its democracy ... Thus, I believe that these expenses are absolutely justifiable." 

 He was sure the second round of voting would be supported by locals.

I am convinced that the motivation of voters will grow even further in the second round, so that they may reiterate their decision and vote for the candidates of their choice once again. 

While the Tbilisi Mayoral election results are not finalized, PM Garibashvili said he was confident Georgian Dream coalition candidate David Narmania would win the next round of voting to become Tbilisi’s new Mayor.

"Yesterday we heard the exit poll results at 8pm and each of us noted in our statements that at that time David Narmania was ahead. I am sure David Narmania will become Mayor. It is only a matter of time,” Garibashvili stated.

At the end of the press conference he emphasized the role his Government had had on developing the election environment. He said during the first governing period, changes were made to the Self-Government Election Code, in which a 50 percent threshold was adopted.

"According to changes to the Self-Government Election Code, we expected a second round of voting will be held,” Garibashvili said.

We deliberately went along this route [because] our goal was to make people more familiar with democratic elections and give them the opportunity to really choose their preferred candidates.

Early results of Central Election Commission showed a second round of voting was imminent in Tbilisi for the Mayoral role and in many districts of Georgia.

See the video of PM's speech with English subtitels below.