Opposition candidate for head of Tbilisi City Assembly: Georgia’s better future is in hands of voters
Elene Khoshtaria has been nominated for the head of Tbilisi City Assembly by four opposition parties. Photo: IPN.
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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.
Today Georgians are making a choice between the poor reality we have under the Georgian Dream leadership and the alternative, bright future of the country which lies in the coalition government,” Khoshtaria said.
She reiterated the opposition’s position that today’s elections are also a referendum.
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 per cent 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.’
The UNM did not join the agreement because it disliked a stipulation on the amnesty of convicts of June 2019 protests in Tbilisi.
The opposition parties are still hopeful that the ruling party may accept the holding of repeat parliamentary elections if it receives less than 43 per cent of votes in the upcoming elections..
However, the Georgian Dream says that ‘no repeat elections will take place.’
Member of the Georgian Parliament and a former leader of the European Georgia opposition party Elene Khoshtaria has created a new political force Droa (eng. It's Time) which aims to expose corrupt officials, abusers, thieves-in-law and those involved in nepotism and who have ties to Russia.
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.
A number of opposition parties have put forward the United National Movement chair Nika Melia for the post of Tbilisi mayor, while Droa movement leader Elene Khoshtaria has been put forward for the City Council (Sakrebulo) chair for the upcoming municipal elections in October.
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.’
Former Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, who now leads the opposition For Georgia party, has cast his ballot in today’s municipal elections and said that 'these are elections between the past and the future'. He called on the public to participate in the elections.
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).
EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell says that today’s municipal elections are a test for Georgian democracy, ‘which I hope that Georgia will successfully pass’, he said earlier today.
“I have voted for the peaceful and stable development of our country”, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said after casting his ballot in today’s municipal elections. PM Garibashvili said the Georgian population needs to overcome poverty, have more jobs, welfare and unity.
United States Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan says ‘Georgia needs more political stability and not more polarization’. Degnan, who is visiting the precincts in Marneuli as an election observer, says ‘this is a very important day for Georgia’.
Head of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party Nika Melia, who is running for Tbilisi mayor, has stated that the opposition is winning the municipal elections and urged voters to actively participate in the race to ‘boost the difference’ in the votes received by the ruling party and the opposition.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and the united opposition are celebrating victory in the local municipal elections based on exit polls commissioned by various TV channels and prior to the official announcement of the results. The GD has addressed their supporters from the stage and congratulated them on the party’s victory.