Opposition Boycotts 2nd Round of Elections, Their Candidates Still Remain on Ballot

Despite the opposition's refusal to run in the second round of majoritarian elections, their candidates have not been withdrawn from the election, meaning voters can decide in their favor.

Prior to the second round of the elections, opposition parties called on their supporters to boycott the elections and not to cast their votes in the runoffs, as they believe that the elections were rigged by the incumbent government. 

"Bidzina Ivanishvili, chairman of the Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia, had deprived citizens of the constitutional right to vote," they claimed. 

Leaders of the opposition parties say that today's elections are formal, as only Georgian Dream candidates are taking part in it. 

Further, they plan to continue large-scale rallies to express their protests against the election results. 

The second round of parliamentary elections is taking place in 17 majoritarian constituencies of Georgia. In the second round of elections, the majoritarian candidates of the Georgian Dream are mainly opposed by the candidates nominated by the United National Movement, while in several constituencies in Tbilisi, the candidate of the ruling party is opposed by a coordinated candidate agreed between the opposition parties.

As of 12:00, in the constituencies where the second round of election is being held, voter turnout amounted to 8.29%. The spokesperson of the Central Election Commission, Natia Ioseliani, stated at the briefing that 177,462 citizens have voted so far.

Based on the results of the first round held on October 31, 9 parties crossed the threshold for proportional representation, while a second round would be needed in 17 out of 30 majoritarian constituencies, including the eight constituencies of Tbilisi, on November 21. 

The final results of the CEC proportional list were as follows:

• Georgian Dream ruling party: 48.15% of votes (61 mandates)

• United National Movement - United Opposition election bloc: 27.14 % of votes (34 mandates)

• European Georgia: 3.78 % of votes (4 mandates + one undistributed mandate)

• Strategy Agmashenebeli: 3.15 % of votes (4 mandates)

• Lelo: 3.15% of votes (4 mandates)

• Alliance of Patriots: 3.14% of votes (4 mandates)

• Girchi: 2.89% of votes (3 mandates + one undistributed mandate)

• Aleko Elisashvili Citizens: 1.33% of votes (1 mandate + 1 undistributed mandate)

• Labor Party: 1% of votes (1 mandate)

However, the United National Movement and all other above-mentioned opposition parties refused to enter the Parliament of the 10th convocation or to recognize the election results.

By Ana Dumbadze 

Related Story: Georgia’s 2020 Parliamentary Elections: Results & Reactions