Georgia's electoral authority announces official results as Georgian Dream secures 89 seats in parliament

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) – The Georgian electoral authority on Saturday announced the official results of the country's general elections, with the ruling party Georgian Dream winning 89 seats in the 150-seat parliament after receiving 53.93% of the vote on October 26.

Giorgi Javakhishvili, the head of the Central Election Commission (CEC), announced the official results at a press conference after the commission's meeting in the capital Tbilisi, where the final results of the general elections were signed.

Although the Georgian Dream party announced its victory shortly after the election, it took three weeks for the commission to count all votes, check all protocols, and examine all complaints.

The news conference began with an incident in which a member of Georgia's opposition party threw black paint at Javakhishvili, accusing him of supporting the ruling party, resulting in an unplanned interruption.

When Javakhishvili returned from the break, he said, in addition to the Georgian Dream, four opposition parties had broken the 5% barrier of securing public votes.

The Coalition for Change received 11.03% of the vote and 19 of its members elected to parliament, Unity or National Movement secured 10.17% votes and 16 members elected, Strong Georgia got 8.81% votes and 14 members elected, and Gakharia for Georgia received 7.78% votes and 12 members elected, he said.

Javakhishvili said 2.1 million out of over 3.5 million registered voters voted in the election, with approximately 34,900 ballots declared invalid.

Georgia has a parliamentary system, meaning any party that secures the most votes will form the new government.

Representatives of the Georgia Dream Party earlier said do not plan to make any changes to the government and that all ministers will retain their positions.