Georgian Dream has lost an appeal against the victory of an ex-member in Tianeti’s mayoral race. Tamaz Mechiauri has been declared the victor by Tbilisi Court of Appeals who upheld a judgement from a lower court to overrule the Tianeti District Commission’s approval of 5 annulled ballots in favor of Georgian Dream’s candidate.
The Initial count by Tianeti District Commission gave Mechiauri a lead of a single vote over Georgian Dream’s Lela Kitesashvili. The commission then approved 5 annulled ballots in favor of Kitesashvili, which the courts ruled against.
Mechiauri may now be the only mayor in Georgia not from the ruling party. Georgian Dream won mayoral races in 57 of 64 cities and municipalities outright on 21 October. The party’s candidates also came first in the remaining five municipalities and the city of Kutaisi, but these will go to a runoff as they failed to garner over 50% of the vote.
The appeal against Mechiauri’s victory was brought by four plaintiffs: the 19th electoral District of Tianeti, Georgian Dream, non-governmental group the International Centre for Democratic Initiatives (ICDI), and Kitesashvili.
The election in Tianeti has been embroiled in scandal. On 24 October Mechiauri reported that the car of a group observing the election process was set on fire after leaving his office. An investigation is ongoing.
After the District Commission awarded victory to Kitesashvili, Mechiauri accused Georgian Dream MP Zakaria Kutsnashvili of falsifying election results in Tianeti.
The feud brought into question how Mechiauri was chosen by Georgian Dream as an MP, with Kutsnashvili claiming he helped get Mechiauri selected, because they are relatives.
After entering Parliament, Mechiauri’s behaviour brought shame to the party, Kutsnashvili says.
‘All of his statements were shameful. I’m sorry, but I shouldn’t have made this mistake. All he does now is scorn us in Tianeti’, said Kutsnashvili.
Mechiauri, who used to head parliament’s Budget and Finance Committee, left Georgian Dream in mid 2016 after making controversial statements about Georgia’s foreign policy.
While Georgian Dream openly declares a commitment to NATO and the EU, Mechiauri has expressed scepticism about this approach, with some accusing him of being ‘pro-Russian’ as a result.
After leaving Georgian Dream, Mechiauri created his own party, Tamaz Mechiauri for United Georgia, to pursue an independent political career.
Kakha Kaladze has been elected Mayor of Tbilisi in Georgia’s local elections. The ruling Georgian Dream party won polls throughout the country, coming first in all 64 cities and municipalities electing mayors.
Local and international observers say that voting went ahead without serious incident, although a number of cases of party activists using voter lists at polling stations to mobilise supporters were reported.
Independent runner up
Kaladze, a former football player for AC Milan wh
A local leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party and four others have been shot near their local party headquarters in south-east Georgia.
Jeyhun Choydarov, a majoritarian candidate for Marneuli’s municipal council (sakrebulo), and four associates were wounded late at night on 19 October, at their headquarters in the village of Kizilajlo.
Four of the injured were rushed to hospital in Marneuli. According to a doctor at the hospital, all of them had suffered gunshot wounds, and two had to
Dozens of heads of publicly run kindergartens in Tbilisi have been instructed to collect lists of voters they think might vote for Kakha Kaladze in upcoming local elections, according to an investigation. Kaladze, an ex Energy Minister, is running for Mayor of Tbilisi for the ruling Georgian Dream party.
This is the scoop from an investigation by Studia Monitori, an independent investigative news programme. The story was broken after Monitori was tipped off by a source.
According to th
Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party has been accused of forcing people to swear on the Quran that they would vote for the party in upcoming local elections. The accusations came from local people and an opposition party in the south-eastern Dmanisi Municipality, an area predominantly populated by Muslims.
A number of people from the village of Irganchai claim local party activists from Georgian Dream threatened to cut them off from social welfare payments if they refused.
‘They [t
Georgian Dream has lost an appeal against the victory of an ex-member in Tianeti’s mayoral race. Tamaz Mechiauri has been declared the victor by Tbilisi Court of Appeals who upheld a judgement from a lower court to overrule the Tianeti District Commission’s approval of 5 annulled ballots in favor of Georgian Dream’s candidate. 
