Non-GD Candidate Wins Mayoral Race in Tianeti
Former member of ruling Georgian Dream (GD) and now opposition mayoral candidate of Tianeti, Tamaz Mechiauri is to become the only non-GD mayor in Georgia, after the Mtskheta District Court ruled in his favor.
The court dispute was initiated by Mechiauri following the October 21 local elections, when the Tianeti District Election Commission re-counted rejected invalid ballot papers and added 5 votes to the ruling Georgian Dream candidate Lela Kitesashvili, who was in second place after Mechiauri.
After this decision, Mechiauri lost the leading position with his 3077 votes, when Kitesashvili’s votes were increased from 3076 to 3081.
The Tianeti District Election Commission explained that those 5 ballot papers were valid and that they had been rejected by mistake.
On October 25, Mtskheta District Court decided to overturn the decision of the Tianeti District Election Commission, naming Mechiauri as winner of the Mayoral elections.
“The court has improved the crime committed by the regional election commission,” Mechiauri stated after the trial.
GD candidate Lela Kitesashvili is not satisfied with the court verdict and says she will appeal the decision to a higher instance court. According to her, the judge could suggest a second round of voting in the district.
“This would be a more logical decision but I think we will continue the legal battle,” she said.
Zakaria Kutsnashvili, member of the GD majority says that it is early to assess that Mechiauri won the elections in Tianeti.
“It is too early to announce that someone won or someone lost. The court's decision will be appealed,” he stated, adding that the verdict of the judge was “illogical.”
The Vice-Speaker of Georgian Dream, Gia Volsky said that as Mechiauri is not a candidate of the ruling party...trying to make himself the victim. “I do hope that the court made the decision after proper consideration,” he added.
Nino Burjanadze, former parliament speaker and the leader of the opposition party Democratic Movement congratulated Mechiauri on victory, adding his case revealed that the local elections in Georgia were rigged.
Burjanadze believes that the attention from media and non-governmental organizations played a crucial role in Mechiauri’s case.
“This is an excellent example which shows that fighting for truth always makes sense,” she added.
In the 2012 parliamentary elections Mechiauri took part as the member of the ruling Georgian Dream. However, before the 2016 elections, he left the GD and established opposition political party – Tamaz Mechiauri for United Georgia. In last year’s parliamentary elections his party got only 0.17% of votes and failed to cross the 5% threshold.
Thea Morrison