11 days until municipal elections - all you need to know about the race
The banners of the ruling Georgian Dream candidates dominate around the country. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Eleven days are left until the October 2 municipal elections in Georgia when voters will elect 64 mayors and 2,068 members in 64 city councils.
The lead up to the elections has been marked by the ruling party’s withdrawal from the April 19 EU-mediated agreement, an attack on journalists by right-wing activists in July during Tbilisi Pride events, the recent leak of alleged personal files and continued vows of Georgia’s ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili that he will return.
The toughest fight is expected in the capital of Tbilisi, where incumbent mayor Kakha Kaladze from the GD, head of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party Nika Melia and former PM under GD, Giorgi Gakharia are running.
Opposition-commissioned polls claim that Kaladze (L) and former PM Gakharia (R) are both liked by 55 per cent of voters ahead of Tbilisi mayoral elections.
Parties, candidates running in elections
43 political parties, 2,771 majoritarian candidates, 199 mayoral candidates for self-governing communities and 40 mayoral candidates for self-governing cities have been registered in the elections.
Referendum - to be or not to be
The April 2021 EU-mediated agreement, which resolved an almost six-month political standoff in Georgia, had obliged the GD to accept the holding of repeat parliamentary elections by 2022 if the party received less than 43 per cent of votes in the October 2 municipal elections.
However, the GD withdrew from the agreement at the end of July and stated that ‘no early elections will take place in the country.’
The UNM and other opposition parties claim that the municipal elections ‘are a referendum anyway,’ stating that if the GD receives less than 43 per cent of votes in the elections, it will have to accept the holding of repeat parliamentary elections.
The UNM has managed to make a coalition with four other opposition parties in the elections. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
‘Covid-safe elections’
Coronavirus cases began to surge in Georgia starting July and the government had to reimpose several restrictions to curb the spread of the virus.
The Georgian public defender has urged the government to discuss the postponement of elections and the opposition parties also supported the idea.
However, the government says that daily coronavirus cases are decreasing in the country and vows to hold ‘Covid safe’ elections.
Observers and media
89 local and 52 international organisations will observe the elections.
74 media outlets have been accredited to cover the race.
What do election polls say?
The recent election polls released by NDI and IRI, as well as several polls commissioned by local media outlets, say that the majority of Georgian voters are undecided.
It is the first election for Gakharia's For Georgia party. Photo: For Georgia press office.
- 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
- Ruling party claims its Tbilisi mayor candidate will receive 60% in elections
- Whom would you vote for if local gov’t elections were held today? Edison Research publishes survey
The GD says that it will win the elections by at least 46 per cent of votes, while the opposition polls forecast the victory of the ruling party opponents.
The elections will be held per party-list and majoritarian electoral models.
The mayoral candidates who receive at least 51 per cent of votes, will win the race, otherwise the second round of elections will take place.
GD says ‘opposition not engaged in election campaigning’
The ruling Georgian Dream party says that major opposition parties, like the UNM, are not engaged with election campaigning because ‘they have plans to stage election provocations and spark tension’ for the elections.
The opposition responds that the ruling party ‘which has failed to run the country properly,’ is busy with criticism of the UNM and other issues ‘to shift public attention onto less serious topics.’
Only a few opposition parties have managed to unite for the elections and present joint candidates in the race.
The Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities will observe the October 2 self-government elections in Georgia on the invitation of the Georgian government in 64 municipalities of the country. The mission involves 18 congress observers from 15 countries and is chaired by David Eray from Switzerland.
Head of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party Nika Melia, who is running for Tbilisi mayor in the October 2 municipal elections, says that ‘if almost all international observers say that the elections were held in the full line with the EU and US standards, we will accept the results.’
MEP Marina Kaljurand has stated that Georgian political parties should accept the results of the upcoming municipal elections if the OSCE/ODIHR recognises the legitimacy of the race. In an interview with the Georgian bureau of Voice of America (VOA), Kaljurand also said that the European Parliament expects ‘free, fair and open elections’ to be held in Georgia on October 2.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has addressed the country’s international partners and stated that the ‘government will ensure the upcoming October 2 municipal elections are held in a calm and competitive environment.’ "I would like to say to our international partners that our main ambition is for the upcoming local elections to be exemplary. These elections must be free, fair, transparent so that no one is left with any questions,” Garibashvili said.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party is expected to receive 36% of the vote while the largest opposition United National Movement (UNM) party is likely to get 27% of the vote in the upcoming municipal elections nationwide, says Edison Research polls commissioned by opposition-minded TV channel Formula.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili says that if Georgia’s third president Mikheil Saakashvili will return for the October 2 municipal elections in Georgia, he will be arrested. Saakashvili has posted a photo of a reserved ticket from Ukraine to Georgia for the evening of the day of municipal elections in Georgia.
Former president of Georgian Mikheil Saakashvili, who currently chairs the Executive Committee of the Ukrainian National Reforms Council, has posted a photo of a reserved ticket from Ukraine to Georgia for the evening of the day of municipal elections in Georgia on October 2. Saakashvili, now a citizen of Ukraine, has called on voters to support the opposition and after the closure of polling stations took to the street ‘to defend votes.’
The Central Election Commission (CEC) has reported earlier today that the cases of pressure, abuse and threat on the district and precinct election commission members have increased ahead of municipal elections. "In some cases, there has been an attempt by observers to overstep their authority to stage a provocation,” a spokesperson of the CEC Natia Ioseliani stated.
Election polls commissioned by the opposition-minded TV channel Mtavari Arkhi says that the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party will receive 35% of the vote while the largest opposition United National Movement (UNM) party will get 30% of the vote in the upcoming October 2 municipal race.
Nikoloz Samkharadze, the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) MP who chairs the parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, says that Georgia remains on the top of the EU agenda and is regarded as an ‘important ally’ for the European Union.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party has announced earlier today that it will receive 50.9% of votes in Tbilisi while the largest opposition United National Movement (UNM) party will get 25.2% of the votes in the October 2 self-government elections in Georgia’s capital.
Covid-19 patients who are undergoing treatment in hospitals and individuals in self-isolation or quarantine will be able to participate in the upcoming October 2 self-government elections, the Central Elections Commission (CEC) has reported. "Covid-19 patients in our country will be able to use ballot papers for the election of the mayor and proportional representation and consequently, will be able to exercise their right to vote,” Deputy Chairman of the CEC Giorgi Sioridze said.
The opposition European Georgia party has nominated members for its Tbilisi party list earlier today in the run up to the October 2 self-government elections. Leader and executive secretary of the party Akaki Bobokhidze introduced 35 people from the party for Tbilisi City Council.
All Georgian constituencies will be provided with video cameras to record the vote-counting process during the upcoming October 2 municipal elections, Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Giorgi Sioridze announced earlier today. Sioridze also noted that video recordings are the only ‘new technological innovation’ implemented for the upcoming elections.
Police are looking into the authenticity of allegedly leaked files on clerics and politicians from the State Security Service (SSS) which surfaced on September 13. Georgian media outlets received thousands of files titled 'Georgian State Security Sevice’s compromising materials against Patriarchate’ online from an unidentified sender which contain data of possible illegal surveillance by the state body.
The third Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has announced today that he will come back to Georgia for the upcoming October 2 municipal race. Saakashvili in his video address, published on his Facebook page, called on Georgian emigrants to join him and come back to the country for the elections. Saakashvili who served as the country’s third president from 2004 to 2013 left Georgia back in 2013 facing several criminal charges after the Georgian Dream (GD) came to power.
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.
A Palitranews cameraman who was attacked by right wing activists earlier today has undergone an operation at New Hospitals and is being taken to the med ward at this time. Head of the New Hospitals emergency service Mikheil Beriashvili said that the patient had a head injury and a broken nose.
Joint opposition candidate for head of Tbilisi City Assembly, founder of the Droa opposition party, Elene Khoshtaria has cast her ballot in today’s municipal elections and said that the country’s fate is in the hands of voters.
The Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) has dismissed reports by the Civic Election Commission movement that Kutaisi district election commission forgot to send election registrators’ seals to polling stations.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party head Irakli Kobakhidze has stated that ‘provocations are expected from the radical opposition’ on election day today and urged party supporters to stay calm and ‘not to respond to any provocation.’
Georgia is holding municipal elections today. Voters will elect 2,068 members of 64 city assemblies and 64 mayors.They will receive three different ballot papers at the polling station.43 political parties have been registered for the October 2 elections.A total of 3,743 polling stations have been established in 73 election constituencies (including nine polling stations in prisons and 70 special polling stations for the individuals who are in self-isolation because of coronavirus).
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday met with Mikheil Shakulashvili, the newly appointed Government Representative in central Georgia’s Shida Kartli region, tasked with coordinating the implementation of “regional policy and individual measures” of the local self-government reform.
Rescuers working in a landslide-hit area in Georgia’s west on Friday recovered a body of a minor in the village of Jumati of Ozurgeti municipality.