No doubts about legitimacy of election results
By Tea Mariamidze
Tuesday, October 11
Davit Usupashvili, Georgia’s Parliament Speaker and the leader of the opposition party Usupashvili-Republicans, summed up the October 8 parliamentary elections, saying he has no doubts about the electoral process or the legitimacy of the election results.
Usupashvili stated that despite many shortcomings, as well as several serious violations, the whole election process can be assessed “as a step forward.”
“The elections were held but not finished, as the second round of elections will be held in most precincts throughout Georgia. We will have a new Parliament, a new political reality and now more analysis and discussions should be held in this direction,” the Speaker stated.
Usupashvili pointed out that lack of qualification of the election administration was observed during the voting process, which led to some flaws after the voting was finished. However, he noted that these deficiencies, which should be improved, did not affect the whole process and legitimacy of the elections.
“I recognize the results published by the Central Election Commission but I do not recognize the process of publishing of the results…it is clear that this was a planned process,” he stated.
The Speaker addressed the leaders of the two political parties that received the most votes, ruling party Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia (GDDG) and opposition party United National Movement (UNM) and called on them to finish the elections “in a competitive regime but peacefully.”
“The direction of our country and the development of political processes depend on them now. I hope this competition will not go beyond the law and civilized norms,” Usupashvili said.
Moreover, the Speaker noted that he will stay on the post of the Speaker until the new parliament assembles.
“Historically, Georgia always had good or very good Parliament Chairs, and I am confident that the future Speaker will be among the very best,” stated Usupashvili.
The Republicans were the second largest faction in the ruling Georgian Dream coalition. The party announced in late March that it planned to officially withdraw from the coalition before the October elections and run independently.
According to the preliminary data of the Central Election Commission, the Republicans will not be able to enter the new parliament, as they could not overcome 5% threshold.
