President: Election Day Should Be a ‘Victory for Democracy’

After casting ballot in local elections on Sunday morning at one of Tbilisi’s polling stations President Giorgi Margvelashvili called for a high voter turnout and for “calm”.

“In order for politicians to serve you, you have to elect them, so I call on everyone to be active and at the same time I call on every political force to make this day victory for a democracy first and foremost and then a victory for them,” Margvelashvili told journalists outside the polling station.
 
Head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II, said after casting ballot on Sunday morning that he voted for “peace and for Georgia’s unity.”

“I think everything will be alright,” Patriarch Ilia II said.

Meanwhile the Interior Ministry said that it is investigating incident in the Martvili municipality’s village of Doshake where masked armed men snatched ballot papers from polling station No.16; polling was not opened at that polling station, where 380 voters are registered. Interior Ministry spokesperson, Nino Giorgobiani said that ballot papers were found about 200 meters from the polling station.

She also said that the Interior Ministry was investigating an attack on a group of UNM activists on June 14. UNM opposition party said that four of its activists were attacked and beaten in Tbilisi suburb by a group of people wearing t-shirts with Georgian Dream logos.

“The Interior Ministry calls on everyone, including political parties, to refrain from provocative actions. We stress that each and every wrongdoing will be reacted promptly by the Interior Ministry in accordance by the law,” she said.