Ruling party MP says UNM being “only” opposition party expected to overcome election threshold “regrettable”
Mdinaradze claimed the “failure” of other opposition groups had been caused by their “malicious campaign”. Photo: Georgian Dream press office
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Mamuka Mdinaradze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party in the Parliament, on Friday said it was “very regrettable” that only the United National Movement - the largest opposition faction in the Parliament - was expected to overcome the five percent election threshold in next year’s parliamentary elections.
The lawmaker’s comment came following surveys run this month by the Tbilisi-based Georgian Opinion Research Business International and the United States-based International Republican Institute that said only the alliance of UNM and Strategy Aghmashenebeli parties could gain seats in the legislative body through the extent of their voter support.
Mdinaradze claimed the “failure” of other opposition groups had been caused by their “malicious campaign” and by their “repeating” of UNM’s “fake messages”, naming the example of them allegedly portraying the Georgian Dream Government as “pro-Russian”.
There is no difference between UNM and other opposition parties in the country - that is why voters prefer to choose UNM [between them]”, he claimed.
The GORBI survey put GD's approval rating at 55 percent and UNM support at 20 percent, while IRI polls said 25 percent supported GD and 13 percent backed UNM.
Domestic opposition groups have called for the election threshold to be lowered to two percent, with GD ruling out the possibility for the forthcoming elections.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday slammed the Georgian representation of the United States-based International Republican Institute for its “history of publishing incorrect election polls” over the past 12 years, after the release of the IRI’s new survey that put GD approval in Georgia at 25 percent ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections.
A public opinion poll published on Tuesday by the Tbilisi-based Georgian Opinion Research Business International has put the approval rating of the ruling Georgian Dream party at 55 percent.
Kakha Kaladze, the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said the five percent election threshold would remain “unchanged” for next year’s parliamentary elections, amid demands by domestic opposition groups to decrease it to two percent.
Giorgi Kalandarishvili, the Chair of the Central Election Commission of Georgia, said the interim parliamentary and mayoral elections across the country on Sunday had “proved” the “readiness” of the election administration, voters and the public for electronic voting.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday said the country’s deoligarchisation reform - aimed to meet one of the conditions outlined by the European Commission last year for granting Georgia the European Union candidate status - was “voluminous and detailed”.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former Prime Minister and the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, did not qualify for the status of an “oligarch” as he was not involved in domestic politics.