Saakashvili concedes defeat in Georgia elections

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili conceded defeat Tuesday in parliamentary polls that handed a shock victory to an opposition coalition led by billionaire tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Although Saakashvili remains president, the defeat of his United National Movement to Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream coalition in Monday’s elections spells the end of his nine years of largely unchallenged dominance over Georgia. “It is clear that the (opposition) Georgian Dream has won a majority,” Saakashvili said in a dramatic televised speech after elections hailed as an “important step” for democracy by international observers.
Without specifying the allocation of seats in the future parliament, he indicated that Georgian Dream would have the majority in the new assembly and would form the new government.
“We, as an opposition force, will fight for the future of our country,” he said, promising to facilitate the transition process as president.
Georgian Dream was leading Saakashvili’s United National Movement by 53.11 to 41.57 percent after 29 percent of electoral precincts declared results in the proportional ballot that will decide just over half of the parliamentary seats. First-past-the-post votes in 73 constituencies will make up the remainder of the 150-seat parliament and the opposition was ahead in partial counts from seven out of 10 such constituencies in its stronghold Tbilisi.
Saakashvili said that although there were “deep differences” between his party and the opposition, “democracy works and the Georgian people take the decision and this is what we deeply respect”. His campaign was undermined by a prison torture scandal that prompted nationwide protests ahead of the vote in the Western-backed ex-Soviet state and raised fears of more serious post-poll unrest.
OSCE election observers described the polls as an “important step in consolidating the conduct of democratic elections.” “Despite a very polarising campaign that included harsh rhetoric and shortcomings, the Georgian people have freely expressed their will at the ballot box,” said Tonino Picula, the head of the OSCE international observer mission.
Ivanishvili had declared victory immediately after several exit polls suggested late Monday that his coalition was ahead and his supporters celebrated long into the night in Tbilisi’s central Freedom Square.