Georgia – Parliamentary elections

President Saakashvili has conceded defeat in Georgia’s parliamentary elections. He has announced that his UNM party will go into opposition and acknowledged that the Georgian Dream party will have a majority in parliament.

Civil.ge is reporting that with 85% of the votes counted that were cast in the precincts, the UNM party has won 42.42% and the Georgian Dream party has won 54.89%.

Parliament comprises 73 single-member constituencies and 77 deputies elected proportionally with a 5% threshold. Civil.ge says that the UNM is leading in 37 of the single-member constituencies and Georgian Dream in 35. With the proportional results to follow, Georgian Dream will have a majority.

The big question to follow is whether there will be a period of cohabitation. The presidential election is scheduled for October 2013. So, there could be one year of cohabitation, which is likely to be very difficult given the polarisation of the party system. Georgian Dream leader, Bidzina Ivanishvili, has called on President Saakashvili to resign a year early.

It is worth remembering that Georgia currently has a president-parliamentary system and that cohabitation is very rare under such a system. The constitutional changes introducing a premier-presidential system and reducing the powers of the president are only due to be implemented after the presidential election.

So, even though there seems as if there will be a peaceful alternation in power, the situation will remain very difficult for the immediate future.

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