TBILISI, November 1. /TASS/. The ruling party, Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia, secured 48.36% at Saturday’s parliamentary polls after 78.16% of votes were counted, the official portal reported.
The party secured 76 mandates, according to preliminary data, gaining the right to unilaterally form the future government, the party’s Executive Secretary Irakly Kobakhidze told a briefing on Sunday.
"In the proportional voting and based on those election results published on the Central Election Commission’s website, the Georgian Dream won 62 mandates. Besides, the data on candidates elected MPs through a majority system has been counted and we can say now that 14 of them won. Given this, by simple arithmetic we can say that the Georgian Dream guaranteed 76 mandates," Kobakhidze said, noting that this gives the party the right to unilaterally form the government.
According to the Central Election Commission, the opposition bloc Strength is in Unity - United Opposition, which also comprises the United National Movement founded by ex-president Mihail Saakashvili, garnered 26.35%. The run-off will take place in 16 single-seat constituencies. In case the ruling party’s candidates win in these constituencies, the Georgian Dream will have 92 mandates in the parliament.
European Georgian-Movement for Liberty, which split from the National Movement in 2017, comes in third with 3.79% of the vote.
Seven parties and two blocs have overcome a 1% threshold. The party of former parliament speaker Nino Burjanadze, the Democratic Movement - United Georgia, won just 0.86% of the vote, below the required minimum. One of the oldest political forces, the Labor Party, led by Shalva Natelashvili, will join the parliament, garnering 1.01% of the vote.
Georgia held parliamentary elections on Saturday. The country’s 150-seat parliament will be made up of 120 members elected through a proportional voting system and 30 members elected through a majority system. As many as 48 political parties and two blocs ran for 150 seats. More than 3.5 mln citizens are eligible to vote in Georgia. Over 3,800 polling stations were opened. According to the CEC, the voter turnout reached 56.11%.