President Does Not Question Legitimacy of Interim Elections

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili says that there are no questions regarding the legitimacy ofthe interim elections in Georgia that took place on May 19.

The President's spokesperson, Khatia Moisprarishvili, said Zurabishvili thinks there were violations in the election process, but they did not influence the election results.

“The President thinks the electoral environment was quite peaceful and democratic and there are no questions regarding the legitimacy of the elections. And this is the main thing. She said that recognition of the election results is part of democracy and political culture, and we should remind some political parties of it,” the spokesperson said.

She added Zurabishvili believes each violation during the elections needs to be properly studied and analyzed in order to avoid similar problems in the future.

Parliamentary by-elections through a majoritarian election system took place in N1 Mtatsminda election district of Tbilisi. The elections became necessary after the district majoritarian MP, Salome Zurabishvili, became the first female president of Georgia in November 2018.

Moreover, City Council (Sakrebulo) interim elections were held in Sagarejo, Akhmeta, Adigeni, Zestafoni, Chiatura, Tkibuli, Tskaltubo and Ozurgeti municipality majoritarian election districts. The elections took place in 26 election precincts in all eight municipalities.

Extraordinary Mayoral Elections took place in Marneuli, Zestafoni, Chiatura, Zugdidi and Khulo municipalities in 362 election precincts.

Candidates of the Georgian Dream ruling party won the race for mayors in five cities, as well as seats in eight city assemblies.

The second round of elections will take place only in the Mtatsminda district of Tbilisi, where none of the candidates managed to pass the 50% threshold.

By Thea Morrison