Elections 2020: all votes counted. What happens next?
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The Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) has counted all votes cast in Saturday’s parliamentary elections.
Nine parties have crossed the one per cent threshold to make it into the 150-member parliament per the proportional electoral system (120 seats in the legislative body).
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The parties are as follows:
- Georgian Dream ruling party - 48.15% of votes (61 mandates)
- United National Movement - United Opposition election bloc - 27.14 % of votes (34 mandates)
- European Georgia - 3.78 % of votes (4 mandates + one undistributed mandate)
- Strategy Agmashenebeli - 3.15 % of votes (4 mandates)
- Lelo - 3.15% of votes (4 mandates)
- Alliance of Patriots - 3.14% of votes (4 mandates)
- Girchi - 2.89% of votes (3 mandates + one undistributed mandate)
- Aleko Elisashvili Citizens - 1.33% of votes (1 mandate + 1 undistributed mandate)
- Shalva Natelashvili - 1% of votes (1 mandate)
Opposition announced a large rally on November 8. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda,ge.
In the majoritarian elections the ruling Georgian Dream candidates has won 14 of 30 majoritarian constituences. A run-off will be held in 16 majoritarian constituencies on November 21, where the ruling Georgian Dream candidates won the race in 15 (of 16) constituencies, however, they were unable to receive at least 51% of total votes.
A second-round of elections will be held in all eight constituencies of Tbilisi and eight constituencies in the regions.
The only opposition majoritarian candidate who won the race but was unable to receive 51 per cent of votes is Nika Melia, who was running in the Gldani constituency of Tbilisi.
He received 43.88 per cent of votes, while his opponent from the ruling party Levan Kobiashvili received 42.69 per cent.
Opposition parties claim that the elections were fabricated and they have plans not to enter the parliament and take to the streets on November 8.
International observers and embassies have stated that the elections were ‘mostly competitive and free.’
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- Lithuanian MFA welcomes ‘important step’ of Georgian elections
- Georgian foreign minister thanks int'l partners for monitoring elections
The ruling party says that the opposition were unable to accept the election results in a dignified manner. Photo: Georgian Dream press office.
What will happen if the opposition refuses to enter parliament?
The 10th parliament will be legitimate if at least 76 MPs are present at its first session on December 20.
With the first round of the elections over, the ruling Georgian Dream party has already secured 75 MPs.
The party says that it will have 91 MPs in parliament after the second round of elections (however, per the locking mechanism in the Georgian constitution GD will not be able to take more than 90 seats in parliament as it received more votes in the proportional elections than it was mandatory for formation the government).
If there are at least 76 MPs in parliament on the first session, the MPs recognise the legitimacy of all elected MPs in parliament, including MPs who do not attend the session.
Only after the session will MPs who do not wish to enter parliament be able to officially resign.
If a majoritarian MP resigns, midterm elections will take place no earlier than May.
If MPs who were elected per the proportional electoral system resign, other candidates on the party list will be able to enter parliament. If all candidates on the party list refuse to enter parliament, their seats will remain unoccupied in the legislative body..
In the second round of elections on November 21 top two candidates will not be able to remove their candidacies (they had the chance only in the first round of elections) even if they refuse to participate.
MEPs on EU-Georgia relations from the European Parliament have congratulated Georgia, 'a key ally of the EU', on 'successfully' organising the first round of the parliamentary elections held on October 31 in Georgia despite ‘the difficult epidemiological context'.
Unanimous in their demands for repeat elections, the parties which have overcame the mandatory 1% threshold, including the United National Movement, Euroepan Georgia, Strategy Aghmashenebeli, Lelo for Georgia, Labour Party and Girchi, accuse the CEC of falsifying elections on behalf of the ruling party.
A number of foreign dignitaries have assessed Georgia's parliamentary elections of October 31, which were held against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said his country is ready to continue supporting Georgia's Euro-Atlantic path.
Georgia has held peaceful, just, safe and democratic elections, says Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili.
The spokesperson of the EU External Action Service has released a statement on the first round of the 2020 parliamentary elections held in Georgia on October 31 'under a revised electoral system and with high voter turnout, despite the challenging context of the Covid-19 pandemic'.
The European Georgia opposition party, which has received five mandates in the 150-member parliament, has refused to have its MPs take up their mandates in parliament and participate in the election run-off on November 21 in several majoritarian constituencies.
Former Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen has written on his Facebook page in Georgian that Saturday's parliamentary elections in Georgia were ‘competitive and free’ and that the elections once again showed the commitment of the Georgian people to Euro-Atlantic integration.
District election commissions have received 1,561 appeals as of now related to the parliamentary elections held on October 31 in Georgia, said Head of Human Resources Department at the Central Election Commission (CEC) Giorgi Kalandarishvili.
Members of all nine political parties which entered parliament following the October 31 parliamentary elections have held a first meeting with the mediation of the diplomatic corps earlier today to address the current political crisis in the country. The meeting has been held at the US Embassy in Tbilisi and was attended by US, EU and French ambassadors.
The ruling Georgian Dream party and opposition politicians have held a second round of negotiations at the United States Ambassador Kelly Degnan’s residence earlier today. The parties have agreed not to reveal the details of the meeting.
The US Department of State has released a long statement by its two senior officials (who have not been identified) earlier today, following the visit of US state Secretary Mike Pompeo to Georgia.
The curfew in seven big cities of Georgia will be lifted on November 20-21, for the second-round of elections.
Four of eight opposition parties which entered parliament in the October 31 parliamentary elections may create a coalition without the United National Movement opposition party.
Nine of 14 political parties who received at least one per cent of votes in the October 31 parliamentary elections have sent a letter of consent to the country’s Central Election Commission to receive annual state funding.
Head of the United National Movement (UNM) Nika Melia, who was released from pretrial custody on May 10, met with the UNM party founder and ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili in Kyiv yesterday.
The European Georgia opposition party has made a final decision earlier today and stated that the party will not enter the state legislature, while three of its five mandates have already been taken up.
MEP Marina Kaljurand has once again urged Georgian opposition MPs to take up their parliamentary mandates in line with the EU-mediated agreement.