Ronoffs to be held in all big cities, GD receives 46% in proportional part of municipal race

The Georgian Central Election Commission says that election runoffs will take place for mayors in all big cities of Georgia – Tbilisi, Rustavi, Kutaisi, Batumi and Poti – as none of the candidates were able to secure 50+1 votes there. 

The opposition candidates have won the race in two of the five cities with a slight difference. 

The ruling Georgian Dream party has managed to receive 46.6 percent of votes in the proportional part of the elections and is likely to win a majority in Tbilisi and mayoral city assemblies. 

The United National Movement (UNM) opposition party came second with 30.7% and ex-pm Giorgi Gakharia’s for Georgia party with  7.79% of the vote.

The opposition claimed that the October 2 municipal elections were also a referendum and if the GD received less than 43 per cent of votes in the race, it would have to accept the holding of repeat parliamentary elections, per the EU-Georgia mediated agreement which the ruling party left back in April 2021. 

The second round of elections in the big cities for mayors and several self-governing communities, which elect the majoritarian candidates in city assemblies, will take place on October 30. 

Georgians voted yesterday to elect 64 mayors and 2,068 members in 64 city assemblies.