Opposition claims ruling party has lost the parliamentary elections
Zaal Udumuashvili of the United National Movement party said that the Georgian people won while Georgian Dream party has lost in these elections. Photo: IPN.
Tweet 
Share
Opposition parties in Georgia claim that the ruling Georgian Dream party has lost the parliamentary elections.
Giga Bokeria of the European Georgia said one hour before the end of the elections that 'according to all our data the Ivanishvili regime has been defeated'.
He said that the opposition is winning the elections.
The Georgian public, the vast majority of Georgian citizens voted for groundbreaking changes in our country", said Bokeria.
Meanwhile, Zaal Udumuashvili of the United National Movement party said that the Georgian people won while Georgian Dream party has lost in these elections.
I can tell you that all the information that we get from the polling stations confirms that the population of Georgia has won this election. We won in all the big cities and among them, we also won in Tbilisi. There has never been a time in history when a party or political organisation that wins Tbilisi has lost an election. Whoever wins Tbilisi will form the government, meaning that the government will be formed by the opposition", said Udumashvili.
He called on the authorities to ‘stop the violence that is now taking place throughout Georgia.’
British Ambassador to Georgia Mark Clayton has expressed his hope that the election process will continue ‘as calmly as it has until this moment’ and that ‘every party will respect the official results’ of today’s parliamentary elections in Georgia.
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan says “It’s very important that as the officials begin to count the ballots, supporters of all political parties respect the work of election officials, accept the official results calmly, and show that these elections meet international standards from start to finish”.
Five individuals have been detained for disobedience to the police and hooliganism following a clash at a polling station in Gldani district of Tbilisi earlier today, Patrol Police Head Vazha Siradze has stated.
Exit polls commissioned by Mtavari Arkhi, Formula TV and Rustavi 2 say the ruling Georgian Dream party received between 41-53% in the proportional part of the elections. An election bloc or party which receives less than 40.54 per cent of votes (less then 76 seats in the 150-member parliament) in the proportional elections will not be able to form a government. Unlike previous elections, the parties which will receive at least one per cent of total votes will be allowed into parliament.
The US Public Opinion Strategies has released exit polls commissioned by Imedi TV as of 6 p.m. which says that the ruling Georgian Dream party will receive 55 per cent of votes in the proportional elections.
The ruling Georgian Dream party says that it has won the elections as all exit polls released by four different TV channels have put their vote count between 41-55 %.
Polling stations closed in Georgia at 20:00, by which time 1,970,540 Georgian voters had cast their ballots in the Georgian parliamentary elections, says the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia.