Head of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze has stated that ‘no elections will take place until the one scheduled in 2024.’
According to the EU-mediated agreement which was signed by the ruling party and the majority of opposition parties back in April 2021, the ruling party accepted the holding of repeat parliamentary elections if it received less than 43 per cent of votes in the upcoming October 2 municipal elections.
However, last month the ruling party withdrew from the agreement ‘due to the main opposition party’s refusal to join the agreement’ and said that the issue of holding repeat parliamentary elections will be dependent on the party’s goodwill.
The opposition parties which won seats in the 2020 parliamentary elections accused the Georgian Dream of fabricating the election results and have been demanding repeat elections since December 2020.
The several-month political crisis in the country was resolved by the EU-mediated agreement proposed by European Council President Charles Michel.
Along with the election issues, the document obliged the signatories to secure large-scale reforms, including in the judiciary field, Agenda.ge reported.
The United National Movement opposition party, which won 34 of 60 opposition seats in the 150-member parliament, refused to join the EU-mediated agreement because of a single stipulation in it on the amnesty of June 2019 protest convicts.
Following the Georgian Dream’s decision to leave the agreement, which was described as the ‘betrayal of the country’s western course’ by the opposition, the opposition parties still believe that the ruling party will have to accept holding of repeat elections if they receive less than 43 per cent of votes in the upcoming municipal race.
