A COALITION led by a billionaire, Bidzina Ivanishvili, was reportedly ahead yesterday in Georgia’s parliamentary polls with 35 per cent of the vote, while President Mikheil Saakashvili’s ruling party got 30 per cent.
Another preliminary exit poll for the pro-government Rustavi-2 and Imedi channels gave Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream opposition bloc a lead over Saakashvili’s United National Movement party by 51 to 41 per cent.
“I would like to thank the Georgian people. You deserve a decent future, to be among the leading European nations,” Ivanishvili said in televised comments on the pro-opposition TV9 channel, without saying more.
But the vote percentages may not necessarily be reflected in parliamentary seats because almost half of mandates are decided on a first-past-the-post rather than the proportional representation system that provided the basis for the state TV exit poll.
“According to the data we are receiving, we are confidently winning in the majority of single-mandate constituencies. The United National Movement will have a solid majority in the new parliament,” ruling party spokeswoman, Chiora Taktakishvili, said in a televised statement.
Thousands of opposition supporters gathered in Tbilisi’s Freedom Square and celebrated as the exit polls were announced.
Another preliminary exit poll for the pro-government Rustavi-2 and Imedi channels gave Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream opposition bloc a lead over Saakashvili’s United National Movement party by 51 to 41 per cent.
“I would like to thank the Georgian people. You deserve a decent future, to be among the leading European nations,” Ivanishvili said in televised comments on the pro-opposition TV9 channel, without saying more.
But the vote percentages may not necessarily be reflected in parliamentary seats because almost half of mandates are decided on a first-past-the-post rather than the proportional representation system that provided the basis for the state TV exit poll.
“According to the data we are receiving, we are confidently winning in the majority of single-mandate constituencies. The United National Movement will have a solid majority in the new parliament,” ruling party spokeswoman, Chiora Taktakishvili, said in a televised statement.
Thousands of opposition supporters gathered in Tbilisi’s Freedom Square and celebrated as the exit polls were announced.
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