2021 local elections

Georgia’s ruling party achieves 47% in local elections, higher than EU mediated agreement’s trigger level for snap poll

By | October 3rd, 2021|Categories: Elections|Tags: , , |

Georgians went to the polls Saturday to elect municipal councils and mayors. TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia's local elections have so far earned mixed results, with both the ruling party and the opposition celebrating victory and highlighting their own success. Although the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) won a landslide victory in the proportional list and received 47% of the [...]

Former president Saakashvili returns to Georgia and is arrested a day before local elections

By | October 1st, 2021|Categories: News|Tags: , , |

Former President Mikheil Saakashvili. TBILISI, DFWatch--Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili allegedly returned on Friday to his home country on Friday after eight and a half years’ absence. Law enforcement authorities arrested the former leader the same evening. The news about the ex-president’s arrest sparked celebrations among the opposition and frustration within the government, and threatened to [...]

Georgia’s ruling party asks for stronger EU condemnation of UNM ‘provocation’

By | September 25th, 2021|Categories: Elections|Tags: , , |

Altercation between Nika Melia (left) and Irakli Kobakhidze at the EU office in Tbilisi. (Ambebi.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s ruling party, GD, criticizes EU Ambassador Carl Hartzell for being too timid in his criticism of the leader of the opposition party UNM Nika Melia after a verbal confrontation outside the EU office in Tbilisi on Thursday. Melia approached [...]

Leader of Georgia’s main opposition party stripped of his seat in parliament

By | September 20th, 2021|Categories: Elections|Tags: , , , , |

Nika Melia. (1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--The largest opposition party’s candidate for Tbilisi mayor has lost his seat in the Georgian parliament. Nika Melia, leader of the largest opposition party United National Movement (UNM), asked for the revocation himself in July, after the ruling party abandoned the EU mediated compromise agreement negotiated by European Council President Charles Michel. [...]

GD chairman rules out early parliamentary elections

By | August 31st, 2021|Categories: Elections|Tags: , , |

Irakli Kobakhidze, chairman of Georgia's ruling party, Georgian Dream. TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s ruling party has dashed the opposition's hopes of holding early elections for parliament in 2022 as a spokesman ruled it out entirely regardless of how few votes Georgian Dream will be able to get in the local elections this October. "Even if Georgian Dream gets [...]

Georgia’s Public Defender calls for postponing the local elections due to Covid-19

By | August 25th, 2021|Categories: Elections|Tags: , , |

Nino Lomjaria, Public Defender of Georgia. TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s Public Defender calls for postponing the local elections amid skyrocketing numbers of new Covid-19 cases and deaths. Nino Lomjaria’s call is backed by the opposition, but the government categorically rules out postponing the poll, which is scheduled for October. "We have more than 60-70 dead per day. What [...]

Georgian PM rules out another lockdown despite Covid-19 virus again running rampant

By | July 21st, 2021|Categories: News|Tags: , , , |

PM Irakli Gharibashvili rules out another lockdown, saying that country’s economy can’t withstand it. (Stopcov.ge.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The Georgian government is not going to declare a lockdown ahead of the upcoming elections, despite a rapidly deteriorating situation in tackling the spread of the coronavirus. Many see the government’s avoidance of new unpopular restrictions in light of the [...]