Tbilisi Mayor: GD is the Only Force with Real Chance of Winning Elections

Tbilisi Mayor and the Secretary General of the Georgian Dream party, Kakha Kaladze, does not rule out the possibility of winning the constitutional majority by the ruling party in the 2020 parliamentary elections.

As he told reporters, 'Georgian Dream' enjoys strong support among the population.

"Electoral systems do not and cannot win elections, elections are won by people and support of voters," Kaladze said, adding that the Georgian Dream had offered a compromise version of the election system to the opposition – 100/50, and if the opposition does not accept this offer, the elections will be held under a mixed system.

Tbilisi Mayor also responded to the statement of the majority MP Irakli Kobakhidze regarding the Georgian Dream's chances in the elections and noted that the ruling party is the only political force that will receive the majority of votes in the elections.

“I agree with Irakli Kobakhidze that the only political party that has a chance of winning a solid majority in Parliament, and maybe even the constitutional majority, is the Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia. There is a strong support among the population. I think everyone can see what is going on, what the situation is, and what the current challenges are," said Kakha Kaladze.

Four rounds of talks have already been held between the government and the opposition upon the initiative of foreign diplomats and international partners, aiming at reaching a consensus over amending the electoral system. However, all the previous meetings have ended without certain agreements and results. 

The meetings followed the rejection of the GD-proposed election bill on November 14, which aimed to move to a fully proportional electoral system starting from 2020 instead of 2024.

The opposition is now demanding a mixed electoral system for the 2020 elections based on the German model, which distributes seats in parliament based on votes received in proportional elections. 

By Ana Dumbadze 

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