Georgian PM highlights ruling party’s “solid” approval rating ahead of parliamentary elections

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Friday claimed the ruling Georgian Dream party was enjoying a “solid” approval rating of “about 60 percent” in the public ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for October.

Kobakhidze claimed presence of higher number of parties with approval ratings of “two or three percent” in the domestic opposition would help the ruling team secure a constitutional majority in the elections.

He also claimed the domestic public would “not give the collective United National Movement” opposition a “chance to succeed” in the vote.

As for the opposition, the approval rating of the United National Movement party is less than 15 percent, and no other [opposition] party can cross the electoral threshold [of five percent]. This is today's situation”, the PM said.

He also alleged President Salome Zourabichvili had “no moral right” to meet with the Chair of the Central Election Commission and discuss the elections following her veto of amendments to the election code, claiming the official had “supported maintaining the deadlock” in the election administration with her move.

The Georgian Parliament on Tuesday overrode Zourabichvili’s veto on the amendments, which had been approved by the legislative body, that stipulated transfer of the power to elect the Chair and members of the Commission to the President if the legislative body failed to elect them in two attempts.

In her decision to veto the bill, Zourabichili explained that the changes failed to improve the role of her office in the appointments, leaving it “limited”.