Ruling party names candidates for mayors in all 63 municipalities countrywide
The ruling party named its mayoral candidates following the political council meeting today. Photo: Georgian Dream/Facebook
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The ruling Georgian Dream party has named all of the 63 (three female and 60 male) candidates in all of the municipalities for the upcoming October 2 local elections.
Local self-government is one of the most important public institutions in Georgia… it is important for us to further develop this institution by supporting the development of all of the 63 municipalities”, the ruling party chair Irakli Kobakhidze said at a news briefing earlier today.
Kobakhidze also noted that he will be head of his election headquarters, while mayoral candidate Kakha Kaladze will be the campaign manager in Tbilisi and Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili will be campaign manager countrywide.
The Georgian Dream, which has recently withdrawn from the EU-mediated agreement, says the announcement of early parliamentary elections will not in a any form depend on the results of the upcoming municipal elections.
The EU-mediated agreement aimed to end the six-month political deadlock in Georgia in mid-April, reads that ‘early parliamentary elections shall be called in 2022 if the Georgian Dream party receives less than 43% of valid proportional votes in the October 2021 local self-government elections’.
Either if we receive three percent of votes like the Lelo for Georgia party did or 93 percent, no early elections will be announced”, Kobakhidze told journalists today.
He also added that if the situation ‘becomes ripe, a healthy coalition government will be formed’ in Georgia.
In this case, we will make that decision independently, on our own, but this cannot be connected with the results of the local self-government elections”, Kobakhidze stated.
Earlier this month the Georgian Dream officially named Kakha Kaladze, acting Mayor of Tbilisi, as its candidate for a second term in the position.
Meanwhile, a number of opposition parties have put forward the United National Movement chair Nika Melia for the post of Tbilisi mayor.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has annulled its signatory status to the April 19 EU-mediated agreement which resolved a six-month political crisis in the country following the 2020 parliamentary elections and proposed large-scale electoral and judiciary reforms.Head of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze stated earlier today that the agreement initiated by the European Council President Charles Michel ‘had completed its mission’ and accused opposition parties of non-fulfilment of the agreement.
Georgian Dream ruling party has officially named Kakha Kaladze, Mayor of Tbilisi, as its candidate for a second term in the position, ahead of the municipal elections set to be held in October.
Several changes have been made to the European Union-backed compromise to end the political crisis in Georgia. Head of the EU Delegation to Georgia Carl Hartzell, who introduced the changes to politicians earlier today, said this is a proposal that President of the European Council Charles Michel ‘views as balanced and realistic’.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said earlier today that the implementation of reforms will continue despite the ruling Georgian Dream party’s withdrawal from the EU-mediated agreement which ended the six-month political crisis caused by the parliamentary elections of 2020. The April 19 agreement obliged all signatory parties to participate in the process of fundamental electoral and judicial reforms’ implementation.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party says based on its polls that they will receive 46.3 per cent of votes in the October 2 municipal elections. The party political council member Shalva Papuashvili stated earlier today that the Georgian Dream ruling party candidate for Tbilisi mayor Kakha Kaladze will receive 66.2 per cent of votes in the elections, while his major opponent from the United National Movement party Nika Melia 33.8 per cent of votes.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia has called on voters to check their personal details on the website voters.cec.gov.ge as the deadline for making changes is 6 p.m. on October 14.