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Presidential poll may pronounce verdict for Georgian coalition government

Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili says the October 27 presidential election will show how voters assess the achievements of the Georgian Dream coalition government

TBILISI, October 17 (Itar-Tass). — Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili says the October 27 presidential election will show how voters assess the achievements of the Georgian Dream coalition government.

He told media editors-in-chief on Thursday that the poll would be “of great importance for the ruling party and the government," for it would be tantamount to a popular verdict on the government's work since the parliamentary elections last October. Ivanishvili said he hoped Georgy Margvelashvili, the presidential candidate from the ruling coalition, would win no less than 60 percent of the votes.

Georgia's Central Election Commission has registered 23 presidential candidates, a record high rate in the country’s history. Candidates running against Georgian Dream's Margvelashvili include former parliamentary speaker Nino Burdzhanadze, David Bakradze, of the former ruling United National Movement and Shalva Natelashvili, of the Labor Party. In the previous electoral campaigns there were five to seven nominees.