UNM’s Tbilisi Mayoral Candidate Concedes Defeat
UNM’s Tbilisi mayoral candidate, Nika Melia, has conceded defeat shortly after the Central Election Commission released first partial results of the July 12 second round runoff.
Early results show that “I could not gain victory in these elections,” Melia told Rustavi 2 TV channel.
First partial results give GD’s candidate more than 45 percentage-point lead over UNM’s Melia.
“But I cannot congratulate on this victory to a candidate for whose victory it became necessary to arrest a former mayor of the capital city,” Melia said, referring to Gigi Ugulava, who was also a campaign manager of UNM.
“But as a resident of this city I wish him [Davit Narmania] success. I will be happy if he’s able to fulfill all those generous promises he pledged to voters. But I think there is no precondition whatsoever suggesting that he will be able to fulfill those promises,” Melia said.