Central Election Commission final protocol
By Tea Mariamidze
Thursday, November 17
Georgia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) published the final protocol of the October 8 parliamentary election results.
The CEC data revealed that the total number of voters was 3.513884, out of which 1.825054 people participated in the proportional elections.
Georgia’s parliamentary elections were held on October 8. The second round took place on October 30 in 50 districts, from which 18 were in the capital, Tbilisi, and 32 in the other regions of Georgia.
Georgia has a 150-seat parliament, with 73 MPs elected in majoritarian, single-mandate constituencies. The remaining 77 seats are awarded to MPs elected in proportional voting based on party lists.
The final results showed that only three political parties managed to pass the election threshold and gain seats in Georgia’s ninth Parliament. These parties are:
The ruling party, Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia (DGGD) - 856 638 votes (115 seats)
The main opposition party, United National Movement (UNM) - 477 053 votes (27 mandates)
The minor opposition party, the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia (APG) - 88 097 votes (6 mandates).
As the final protocol was published, the first session of the new Parliament needs to be held no later than 20 days following the adoption of that protocol.
The Parliament Speaker, Vice-Speakers and Committee Chairmen will be elected at the first session, appointed and opened by the President of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili.
The Presidential Administration urges lawmakers to refrain from making "hasty statements" in regard to the first session of Parliament.
The administration made the statement in response to unofficial information released by certain lawmakers that the first sitting of the new Parliament would be held on November 18.
“We heard from a number of MPs about the date of the parliament sitting but the exact date will be known only when the president issues the relevant legal act," stated the Administration of President.
Majority MP Gia Volski responded to the statement of the Presidential Administration, and said the MPs had right to choose the date of the first sitting.
“We think that the first session should be held on November 18 and there is nothing controversial about that. The statement asking why we did not wait for the President’s decision is inappropriate,” he stated.
