Ruling party beats pro-Western opposition in Georgia election
Date
10/28/2024 8:22:40 AM
(MENAFN) In a significant Political development, Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, is poised to secure a decisive victory in the country’s parliamentary elections, with early results indicating that the party has garnered over 54.2 percent of the vote, based on data from the electoral committee. With approximately 99 percent of ballots processed, the voter turnout stands at an encouraging 59 percent, surpassing figures from the previous election in 2020.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the chairman of Georgian Dream, has expressed confidence that the party will win at least 90 of the 150 seats in the national parliament, a substantial increase from the 74 seats it held before the election. To form the government and appoint the Prime Minister, a simple majority of 76 seats is required in Georgia's legislative body.
However, these results have sparked controversy, with opposition parties and the Western-leaning President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, contesting the election outcomes. Zourabichvili took to X (formerly Twitter) to assert that the election was won by the European Georgia party, claiming it received 52 percent of the vote despite alleged attempts to rig the results and without input from the Georgian diaspora. She praised the country for its commitment to democracy, European values, and political maturity.
European Georgia ran as part of a coalition led by the Unity-National Movement (UNM), which has reportedly attracted around 10 percent of the votes according to official counts. Other opposition parties that surpassed the 5 percent threshold include the Coalition for Changes with approximately 11 percent, Strong Georgia with 9 percent, and the For Georgia party, which is led by former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia of Georgian Dream.
As the ruling party prepares to take control of the legislature, the opposition's accusations and claims of electoral misconduct raise questions about the integrity of the electoral process in Georgia and highlight the ongoing tensions within the country's political landscape.
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