Kaladze Responds to Election Results, Recognizes the Message for his Party

The 2018 Georgian presidential elections were held on Sunday, October 28. As no single candidate won more than 50% of the vote, there will be a runoff election next month. 

Kakha Kaladze, Tbilisi Mayor and General Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, who also supports top-two presidential candidate Salome Zurabishvili, spoke to reporters on Monday about the election results.

Kaladze admitted that his party's pre-election polling system was flawed. "We relied only on internal surveys, which weakened our perception of people's attitudes," he said, noting that the election was a message that the country needs to change. 

Kaladze announced, "Sadly, like all other governments, the concentration of power gave us excessive self-confidence, and in a number of cases there has not been adequate feedback or communication with the public. We only relied on internal surveys, which weakened our perception of people's attitudes. However, for any healthy political organization, such a signal serves as the beginning of rapid changes and an effective response. The message has been received and we are ready to respond to this challenge with effective steps."

Kaladze continued, thanking voters for turning out on Sunday despite what he called an "unprecedented negative campaign by the opposition" and thanking "observers, foreign partners, international organizations, law enforcement officers, election administration and the media."

"We live in a democratic state, where Georgian Dream gave the population the freedom of choice. The need for a second round of elections indicates the high political standard established by us in Georgia and the whole international community and every citizen clearly sees it. Georgian Dream will guarantee that elections will never be rigged in Georgia!" Kaladze promised.

By Samantha Guthrie

Photo: Georgian Dream