Ruling party says it will receive 44.7% of votes in October 2 municipal elections in Kutaisi
The party says it expects its candidate for mayor Ioseb Khakhaleishvili to receive 50.3% of the vote, while his major opponent from the United National Movement party Khatia Dekanoidze 37.8% and the remaining candidates 11.9%. Photo: Ioseb Khakhaleishvili/Facebook.
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The ruling Georgian Dream party claims that they will receive 44.7% of votes in the October 2 municipal elections in the western Georgian city of Kutaisi, which will elect a city council and mayor.
Municipal elections are slated to be held throughout the country on the day.
The party says it expects its candidate for mayor Ioseb Khakhaleishvili to receive 50.3% of the vote, while his major opponent from the United National Movement party Khatia Dekanoidze 37.8% and the remaining candidates 11.9%.
The party noted that if elections in Kutaisi end with such results, only three election entities will overcome the 3% election threshold to enter the city council.
28 seats will be distributed as follows: Georgian Dream - 16 seats, National Movement - 11 and Alliance of Patriots - 1 seat", said MP Givi Mikanadze when presenting the Georgian Dream's sociological survey earlier today.
Per the party’s survey, the results for other parties were as follows:
- United National Movement - 32.6%
- Alliance of Patriots - 3.1%
- Party for Georgia - 2.9%
- Strategy Aghmashenebeli - 2.6%
- Girchi-More Freedom - 2.5%
- Lelo - 2.3%
- European Georgia - 2.2%
- Citizens - 1.5%
- Labour Party - 1.5%
- Girchi - 0.4%
- United Georgia - 0.4%
- Other parties - 3.3%
Mikanadze said 987 respondents participated in the survey.
Chairman of the European Georgia Giga Bokeria said that members of the Georgian Dream are 'deceiving themselves' and that if the citizens of Georgia will be active during the elections 'Ivanishvili's regime is politically doomed everywhere'.
Last week, on August 13 Georgian Dream political council member Shalva Papuashvili stated that the ruling party candidate for Tbilisi mayor Kakha Kaladze will receive 66.2% of votes in the elections, while his major opponent from the United National Movement party Nika Melia 33.8% of votes.
The April 2021 EU-mediated agreement between the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and the majority of opposition parties proposed the holding of repeat parliamentary elections if the ruling Georgian Dream party received less than 43% of votes in the October 2 municipal elections.
However, ahead of the elections, the ruling party withdrew from the agreement ‘because of the refusal of the main opposition party, the UNM, to join the agreement.’
- NDI polls: Georgians concerned about economic, healthcare issues, 54% of voters undecided
- IRI polls: public concerned by economic issues, Mayor Kaladze is most liked politician
The UNM did not join the agreement because it disliked a stipulation on amnesty for those sentenced or imprisoned following the June 2019 protests in Tbilisi.
Opposition parties are still hopeful that the ruling party may accept the holding of repeat parliamentary elections if it receives less than 43% of votes in the upcoming elections. However, the Georgian Dream says that ‘no repeat elections will take place.’
The United National Movement (UNM), European Georgia, Droa and Girchi-More Freedom opposition parties have nominated former Tbilisi Mayor under UNM Gigi Ugulava for Poti mayor in western Georgia ahead of the October 2 municipal elections.
Chairman of eastern Georgian Rustavi city council Levan Oniani has been dismissed from his post by secret ballot vote earlier today following his exit from the ruling Georgian Dream party.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party MP Irakli Kadagishvili has dismissed reports by the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) that the GD is forcing public school directors and teachers to campaign on their behalf in elections.
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 largest opposition party United National Movement (UNM) and the opposition European Georgia party have presented additional mayoral candidates for the upcoming October 2 municipal race.
The opposition United National Movement (UNM) party claims the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party will not receive more than 35% of votes in the four cities of Georgia in the upcoming municipal elections.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has spent 2,794,718 GEL on election ads between August 2 and August 22. The Georgian Dream spent the following amounts on:
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) says the political landscape is ‘highly polarized’ in Georgia ahead of the upcoming October 2 local self-government elections. The OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission (EOM) published its interim report on September 17.