Georgia’s ruling party claims victory in parliamentary election with over 54% of the vote

TBILISI — With nearly all ballots counted, Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party secured more than 54% of the vote in the weekend parliamentary election, according to the country’s election authority on Sunday.

Giorgi Kalandarishvili, head of the Georgian Election Administration, announced during a briefing that results from 3,100 precincts have been counted, representing over 99.6% of the country’s precincts.

While results from nine precincts abroad remain pending, he reported that Georgian Dream received more than 1.1 million ballots, translating to just over 54% of the total votes cast.

The closest competitors to Georgian Dream, the Coalition for Change and the Unity – National Movement coalitions, garnered 10.9% and 10.1% of the votes, respectively.

“I want to thank the Georgian people, the voters, and the public for standing by us during the most challenging times,” Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stated at a post-election briefing.

Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili also congratulated Georgian Dream supporters and the country as a whole on social media following the ruling party’s success.

The election results were praised by the leadership of Georgian Dream, including its honorary Chair Bidzina Ivanishvili, based on exit polls conducted prior to the official count.

However, the opposition has rejected the election results, with the Coalition for Change asserting on social media that the elections were “stolen” and describing the situation as a “constitutional coup.” — Agencies