PM Garibashvili: ruling party convincingly won elections nationwide, destructive forces defeated once again
Based on the latest results provided by the Central Election Commission (CEC) the second round of mayoral elections are also expected in Tbilisi along with four other large cities of Georgia. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has stated that the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party has won the local municipal elections ‘convincingly’ nationwide while the largest opposition United National Movement (UNM) party ‘lost the battle with Georgian people and the GD for the eighth time.’
The elections were held in a successful, peaceful, free and fair environment and were unanimously positively assessed by international observers,” Garibashvili said.
He noted that despite the need for the second rounds in Georgia’s 20 municipalities he is ‘satisfied with the election results.’
Garibashvili said that only 31 per cent of municipalities will have runoffs compared to parliamentary elections in 2020 where second rounds of the elections were held in 56 per cent of the municipalities.
Therefore, this is a complimentary result for us and emphasises the democratic and fair election environment which was created in Georgia by the efforts of the GD,” Garibashvili stated.
He also said that the ruling party’s candidates ‘will win convincingly in the second round in all 20 constituencies.’
Based on the latest results provided by the Central Election Commission (CEC) the second round of mayoral elections are also expected in Tbilisi along with four other large cities of Georgia.
A total of 1,815,767 voters cast their ballots on local self-government elections yesterday.
Municipal elections are held in Georgia per a mixed electoral system. Voters have to fill three ballot papers: the first ballot paper is for mayoral candidates (which are elected per a 50+1 system. The winner is the candidate who will receive at least 51 per cent of votes, otherwise a second round of elections will be held).
The second ballot paper is for majoritarian candidates in city assemblies (The winner must receive more than 40 per cent of votes in the first round of elections to win the race, otherwise a second round of elections will be held).
The third ballot paper is for parties - they will need at least 2,5 per cent of votes to receive seats in Tbilisi City Assembly and 3 per cent in other city assemblies across the country.
According to recent changes to the electoral code, 40 members in the 50-member Tbilisi City Assembly are elected per the proportional electoral system, while the remaining 10 per the majoritarian electoral system (previously the share stood at 25/25).
“Georgia’s local elections were competitive and technically well administered, but marred by widespread allegations of electoral violations, vote-buying, and an unlevel playing field, as well as intimidation and pressure”, the international observers have stated today.
A second round of mayoral elections are expected in all five big cities of Georgia, including Tbilisi, as none of the candidates received at least 50% + 1 of the vote.Municipal elections are held in Georgia per a mixed electoral system. Voters have to fill three ballot papers: the first ballot paper is for mayoral candidates (which are elected per a 50%+1 system). The winner is the candidate who will receive at least 50%+1 of the vote, otherwise a second round of elections will be held).
A total of 1,815,776 people (51.92 per cent of eligible voters) have cast ballots in the municipal elections as of 8 p.m. today. The Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairperson Giorgi Kalandarishvili thanked everyone for their participation in the elections.
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.
The United National Movement (UNM) opposition party and their supporters are now rallying at Rustavi No.12 prison to express support for the currently detained third president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili.