Ex-PM Gakharia casts ballot ‘not voting for any candidate’
Gakharia explained that by coming to the run-offs, he performed his ‘civilian duty.’ Photo: For Georgia's Facebook page
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Former prime minister of and leader of For Georgia political party Giorgi Gakharia has cast his ballot in today’s municipal run-offs, and said he voted ‘for Georgia,’ but not for any candidate.
Gakharia explained that by coming to the run-offs, he performed his ‘civilian duty.’
When we are forced to make a selection between two bad choices, I am, of course, not voting for anyone, he added.
Gakharia, who received 9.42% of the total votes in the first round of Tbilisi mayoral elections, maintained that the 2021 municipal elections were ‘neither free nor fair.’
Regarding the former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been on a hunger strike since his arrest on October 1, Gakharia maintained that ‘Saakashvili is not a political prisoner, but it does not mean that the state should not take care of the ex-president’s health.’
Gakharia noted that the government needs to be ‘more reasonable’ to prevent Saakashvili’s case from turning into a ‘tragicomedy.’
Gakharia's For Georgia party received 7.79% of the votes in the proportional part of the municipal elections.
In order to form majorities in several city assemblies, both the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) and the opposition United National Movement (UNM) will need a coalition with For Georgia. Gakharia has offered negotiations both to the GD and the UNM, but the ruling party declined the offer.
United States Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan, who is ‘happy to see voters coming out and casting their votes’ calls for a calm atmosphere on Election Day. Degnan told journalists at the Krtsanisi constituency in Tbilisi that at the places she has visited the environment was calm, while the precincts have been well organised and well administered. However, the embassy has people all over Georgia, who are seeing very different things in some parts of the country.
The former president of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili has cast his ballot in today’s run-off municipal elections, saying he voted for ‘oppositional changes’ and a candidate from ‘his neighborhood.' Margvelashvili also encouraged fellow citizens to go out and vote as ‘the weather is quite nice and warm.’
Five people have been detained for physical assault near polling station No. 20 in the western Georgian town of Zugdidi, the Interior Ministry reports. The ministry representative Ketevan Kovziashvili has informed the public of the activities aimed to ensure safe and peaceful environment during the municipal run-offs.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, who has cast her ballot in today’s municipal run-offs, said she hopes polarisation will end in Georgia.
The second round of municipal elections will take place in Georgia tomorrow, including in all big cities of the country, amid a polarized political environment and continued rivalry between the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and the main opposition, the United National Movement. The GD claims they will ‘finally defeat and end the UNM’ in the race, describing it ‘as an evil force’ which has been hampering development for 18 years, while the UNM still hopes the run-offs will lead to snap parliamentary elections ‘and the changing of the GD government.’
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.
Former prime minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia has proposed trilateral talks between his For Georgia, the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and the United National Movement (UNM) opposition to compose city assemblies ‘in a balanced manner.’