Election of Head of Gardabani Municipality

Voters in Gardabani municipality in Kvemo Kartli region are electing head (gamgebeli) of this municipality on January 28.

Only two candidates are running for the office – Georgian Dream (GD) ruling coalition’s Gocha Jamarauli and opposition United National Movement’s (UNM) Besik Kakhabrishvili.

10.9%, or 7,849 out of total of 71,847 voters registered in the Gardabani municipality, turned out at polling station by the noon, according to the Central Election Commission.

GD’s candidate Gocha Jamarauli is a former footballer who played for the national team in 1994–2004.

UNM’s candidate was running for the same office in the 2014 local elections, but lost the race to GD’s candidate, garnering 27.8% of votes.

Election in Gardabani was called after the office of gamgebeli became vacant following the death of the incumbent, Gela Nioradze, in late November; Nioradze,  who ran on ruling GD coalition’s ticket, won the post in 2014 local elections with over 56% of votes.

Polling stations will be closed at 8pm local time.