Ruling party head: we have won the so-called referendum announced by the radical opposition
Kobakhidze also noted that the largest opposition UNM party ‘is demolished as their leader Saakashvili is in prison.’ Photo: GD press office.
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The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party head Irakli Kobakhidze has stated that the GD won the so-called referendum announced by ‘the radical opposition’ with 66 per cent of seats in city councils (Sakrebulo) nationwide.
Kobakhidze said that the ruling party counts on increasing the figure to 68 per cent after the runoff.
The [opposition] United National Movement (UNM) party won 25 per cent of the seats in city councils while all other parties together received nine per cent of the seats. Such is the overall picture across the country,” Kobakhidze stated.
The figures presented by us once again show the impressive victory of the GD throughout the country,” he added.
The ruling party head said that GD will not cooperate with former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia’s For Georgia party, calling it ‘a traitor’s party.’
It's been two days since the election and he [Giorgi Gakharia] just can't be seen. He did not even thank the hundreds of thousands of people who supported his party,” Kobakhidze said.
Kobakhidze also noted that the largest opposition UNM party ‘is demolished as their leader Saakashvili is in prison.’
This provides an excellent opportunity for a qualitative recovery of the Georgian political spectrum by 2024,” stated Kobakhidze.
He said that ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili should serve his sentence completely, noting that he is in prison ‘deservedly.’
Kobakhidze reported that 2,068 mandates in municipal councils are distributed as followed:
- Georgian Dream - 1,331
- United National Movement - 502
- For Georgia - 109
- Lelo For Georgia - 27
- European Georgia - 18
- Third Force - 8
- Mechiauri For United Georgia - 6
- Alliance of Patriots - 5
- European Socialists - 4
- Labour Party - 3
- People’s Party - 3
- Progress and Freedom - 2
- For People - 2
- Independent MPs - 2
- Girchi - More Freedom - 1
- Citizens - 1
- Girchi - 1
Based on the latest results provided by the Central Election Commission (CEC) the second round of municipal elections will be held in 20 constituencies nationwide with mayoral elections in Tbilisi and four other large cities of Georgia.
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).
According to the final results of the first round in the race, the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party received 46.74 per cent of the vote, the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party received 30.68 per cent of the vote while ex-PM Giorgi Gakharia’s For Georgia party garnered 7.79 per cent of the vote.
The ruling Georgian Dream party’s candidate for Batumi mayor, Archil Chikovani and the United National Movement opposition party’s candidate for Poti mayor, Gigi Ugulava have tested positive for Covid-19.
The Georgian parliament has suspended the MP status of the head of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party Nika Melia with 79 votes earlier today, as Melia requested back in August 2021 to prepare for the October 2 municipal elections.
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.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili says that ex-president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, who was detained in Tbilisi on October 1, will be able to leave the country only after he serves his prison sentence.
“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 second round of municipal elections in Georgia will be held on October 30 as some candidates did not receive enough votes to overcome the mandatory threshold, including in Tbilisi, based on the preliminary results of the Central Election Commission (CEC).
Head of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party Nika Melia has called on party supporters in Zugdidi, western Georgia, to join a rally tomorrow to protest the recent recount of votes which may leave the party without the chance to form a majority in Zugdidi city assembly.
The United Nations Movement (UNM) plans to hold ‘large rallies’ in all large cities in Georgia, during which demonstrators will demand the release of former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili from prison, UNM member Levan Bezhashvili said earlier today.
Ruling party mayoral candidate and incumbent mayor Kakha Kaladze has called on all Georgian citizens to participate in the municipal election run-offs on October 30 and ‘to put an end’ to the opposition party United National Movement (UNM).
The Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) says that 2,088,722 voters have been registered to participate in municipal election run-offs on Saturday, while the number of eligible voters stood at 3,497,345 in the first round of elections on October 2. The total number of voters in Tbilisi, which will also hold run-offs, is 1,002,525.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party has announced they will hold an ‘assembly of its supporters’ on central Freedom Square in the capital Tbilisi on October 27, with ‘thousands of participants.’