Opposition Rally Disperses

Leaders of the nine-party opposition bloc called on supporters to disperse, citing that they had to continue “electoral struggle” at polling stations and district election commissions.

“We need some time to elaborate the tactic. Many sleepless nights await us, as struggle continues,” Levan Gachechiladze, the leader of the nine-party bloc told supporters at the rally outside the Sport Palace.

Davit Gamkrelidze, the leader of New Rights Party – part of the nine-party bloc – told supporters at the rally that now it was more urgent for the opposition to defend votes at polling stations and district election commission, as well as to continue electoral struggle through filing complaints.

“That would enable us to have clearer picture and after that it would be possible to decide how to continue our struggle,” he said.

Earlier the nine-party opposition bloc’s press office said that according to its data provided by its observers in the polling stations it had received over 33% of votes and the ruling party about 31%. The leaders, however, said at the rally that it was yet too early to have a clear picture of the results.

Meanwhile, the Central Election Commission started after midnight posting on its website results coming from polling stations. Results from only 52 polling stations – out of total 3,558 – were posted by 2am local time, including those from Tbilisi’s Vake and Didube districts, as well as from some provincial districts. The ruling party leads with huge margin in those polling stations, followed by the nine-party bloc.

According to exit poll results, which the opposition said would not trust long before the elections, the ruling party has won a landslide victory with slightly over 63%, followed by the nine-party bloc with over 14%.