The March poll is likely: the presidential election in Georgia is probably part of the extension

Tbilisi / DPA
28/10/2018

The search for the new Head of State of the Republic of Georgia of the South Caucasus will most likely lead to a second round. According to initial forecasts, none of the candidates in Sunday's presidential election reached an absolute majority, the Georgian media reported.

All this indicated a close race between Salomé Surabishvili and Grigol Waschadse, two former Foreign Ministers of the former Soviet Republic on the Black Sea. They each got 40% of the vote.

Zurabishvili was an independent candidate and was supported by the Georgian Dream party. If the 66-year-old woman won the elections, a woman would occupy for the first time the highest office of the state. She was already among the favorites, but was recently lost, according to polls from the electorate. The career diplomat was formerly ambbadador of France in Tbilisi, but has only Georgian nationality.

Reliable results were only expected on the night of Monday. However, the ruling party said late in the evening that there would be a second round. The participation rate in the first round was 46.7 percent, according to preliminary data from the electoral commission. A ballot shall be held when none of the candidates receives immediately more than 50% of the votes.

Well 3.5 million people were called to vote. Twenty-five candidates had applied for the succession of President Giorgi Margwelaschwili, who had not started again.

At the same time, a constitutional reform enters into force with the election, according to which, from 2023, an electoral committee should appoint the president and no longer the people. The head of state, who will only be in office for five years instead of six years, mainly has representation duties related to the amendment of the constitution.

Washadze complained during the vote, according to the irregularities of the Russian media and reported numerous complaints. Opposition workers party leader Shalva Natelashvili has called for protests in case of election fraud. In addition, according to media reports, residents of some mountain villages in northern Georgia would not have been able to vote due to the impossibility of transporting mobile urns to the regions because of the snow.

German election observer and member of parliament Andrej Hunko was concerned about a second round of voting. "Then the tensions in the country will be much bigger," said the leftist politician, who works for the Council of Europe in Georgia. He referred to statements made by the Pashtun during the election campaign to pardon former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili in case of victory. He was sentenced to six years in prison for abuse of power and now lives in the Netherlands.

Georgia is militarily supported by the United States. The country aims to prevent Russia from joining the EU and NATO. On the other hand, Moscow supports the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which declared their independence from Georgia.