Saakashvili had left Georgia in 2013 and was sentenced to prison in absentia in 2018 for abuse of power. The main opposition party boycotted the parliament for months after an election last year. An agreement brokered by the European Union in recent months had called for the government to call a new parliamentary election if Georgian Dream were to win less than 43% of Saturday’s local vote. An exit poll by the pro-government Imedi channel predicted Georgian Dream winning 47.6% of the vote, with the UNM gaining just 27.1%. (This story corrects 7th para to show the main opposition party boycotted the parliament for months after an election last year, not since an election last year.)

Source: MetroXpress October 02, 2021 03:56 UTC