Saakashvili a day before run-offs: country’s fate, my life, dependent on voters’ decision

Georgian former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1, a day before Georgia’s municipal elections, has addressed voters ahead of tomorrow’s run-offs, stating that the ‘country’s fate and his life’ is dependent on their decision and activeness. 

He says that he is also suspending taking medicines and cooperating with a medical council as the former president has been on hunger strike for 29 days. 
“I was taking medicines and was cooperating with the medical council to maintain strength to the run-offs,” Saakashvili said. 

Saakashvili, who is a citizen of Ukraine, claims that he returned to Georgia after eight years in political exile to help his United National Movement (UNM) opposition party replace the ‘pro-Russian’ Georgian Dream authorities. 

The municipal election run-offs will take place in 20 of 64 mayoral and majoritarian constituencies tomorrow, in which the ruling party and the UNM candidates will compete in 17 constituencies. 

All the remaining 44 constituencies were won by the ruling party in the  first round of elections on October 2. 

The ruling party also received 47 percent of the vote in the proportional part of the elections in the first round, stating that the UNM’s statements on ‘winning the elections’ are ‘funny’ as the GD has already won the race.