Preliminary results: ruling party candidates win by-elections

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia published the preliminary results of the by-elections held on Saturday to elect a majoritarian member of the Parliament in Rustavi outside capital Tbilisi, and a majoritarian member of the City Council in the Black Sea city of Batumi.

The preliminary results show that the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party candidates have won the by-elections both in Rustavi and Batumi.

Preliminary results for the by-elections are as followed:

Parliamentary majoritarian elections in Rustavi

• Irakli Shatakishvili (GD) - 90.612%
• Mamuka Tuskadze (Social Justice) - 6.952%
• Kamal Muradkhanovi (Georgian Unity and Development Party) - 2.436%

Local majoritarian elections in Batumi

• Ramaz Jincharadze (GD) - 69.013%
• Mate Putkaradze (United National Movement) - 30.987%

The CEC noted the by-elections were conducted “in a calm environment, transparently,” with voter turnout of 51.3% in Batumi and 29% in Rustavi and Gardabani (three precincts created in penitentiary institutions and one so-called Covid election precinct).

The by-elections in Batumi are being held as the city council member from the opposition United National Movement party, Nugzar Putkaradze, died in November last year, while in Rustavi the vote has been prompted by a vacant seat after former majoritarian MP Nino Latsabidze from the ruling Georgian Dream party was elected the Rustavi Mayor in local self-government elections held in October 2021.