On 19 May the mid-term parliamentary and local government elections were held in Georgia. The ruling Georgian Dream candidates recorded a win in five cities and eight city assemblies. Only in the Mtatsminda district of Tbilisi, a second round will take place between Lado Kakhadze (Georgian Dream) and Shalva Shavgulidze (Free Democrats and the European Georgia).

The Georgian Dream candidates won the mayoral race in the cities of Zugdidi (54.18%), Marneuli (79.8%), Zestaponi (50.75%), Chiatura (64.58%) and Khulo (70%). They also took wins in the race for city assemblies in all of the eight municipalities, namely: Sagarejo (72.4 %), Akhmeta (96.49%), Adigeni (93.89%), Zestaponi (69.71%), Chiatura (46.82 %), Tkibuli (63.23 %), Tskaltubo (78.41 %) and Ozurgeti (71.75 %).

According to the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), one of the leading NGOs in Georgia, the voting was being held without any “substantial violations”. The same point of view was shared by the Central Election Commission, which said that the elections were held in a “mainly calm environment”, and the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), who said that the elections  “were for the most part held without major violations.” Only in Zugdidi a tense atmosphere was reported, where the Ministry of Internal Affairs opened two criminal cases during the elections.

The Georgian Dream ruling party has stated that they have won an “overwhelming” victory in the elections, while opposition leaders have made different statements, contradicting one another. Sandra Roelofs, wife of former President Mikhail Saakashvili and the opposition candidate in Zugdidi, spoke about a revolutionary scenario, claiming that she won the elections. Her statement was differently perceived by her party colleagues. Nika Melia, one of the leaders of the United National Movement (Roelofs party) said that speaking about a revolution, “when it is hard to carry out such ambitions, brings our supporters to desperation.” Khatia Dekanoidze, another member of the UNM, said that Roelofs “meant to promote more communication with the people, as the fabrication (*in welchem Sinne?) of the elections does not start on election day.”