Snap elections unlikely

The recently held local-elections brought victory to the Georgian Dream coalition. The coalition was successful in all the elections that have been held since 2012. Thus, the country might relax and have no elections in 2015. However, the opposition is speculating about a snap parliamentary run.

The issue was put on the agenda when Bidzina Ivanishvili was in office. The opposition is claiming that Ivanishvili is still preserving leadership of the coalition and is the major guarantor of the coalition’s success.

Those promoting this idea stress that although the Georgian Dream gained victory in the elections, the turnout was poor. More than two-thirds of voters refrained from participating in the elections. Leader of the Georgian Troup opposition party Jondi Baghaturia stated that the current Mayor Davit Narmania was supported by only15 percent of the people. He states that the situation was similar in other cities and regions. Baghaturia stresses that snap elections are necessary, as the coalition should have gotten more votes if it was trusted by public.

The Georgian Dream coalition does not like the idea of course, as the party knows that it will fail to gain the same seats in parliament as it did in 2012. Before the elections, the party promised much to public. It is an accepted reality that all the parties are generous in promises prior to the elections. As such, the public expected more from Ivanishvili’s party. Moreover, they expected miracles – the resolution of the country’s socioeconomic problems as well as the prosecution of former government officials who have been involved in crimes. However, many of these promises were not met. One of the most glaring is the fact that unemployment in Georgia is still through the roof. Jobs were a very high priority among the Georgian electorate, and very little has been done to address this concern.

The United National Movement also does not want snap elections. It prefers the status quo where it retains the numbers to block the Georgian Dream from introducing any constitutional changes without its support. Therefore, both political parties represented in parliament are against snap parliamentary elections.

As for the other opposition parties, they continue to fail to consolidate in such a way that would allow them to defeat the UNM or the Georgian Dream. They are still unable to create a new political party.

In all the recent elections, Nino Burjanadze’s political party managed to come in third. However, she was labeled as pro-Russian and this association is quite unpopular.

The Georgian Dream hopes that wining the local-elections will enable the party to be more active and mobilized. With victory behind them, they hope that they will meet the public’s demands.