As per the preliminary results of the Central Election Commission, Georgian Dream presidential candidate Giorgi Margvelashvili has won the presidential elections with 63,82%.

‘We are going to protect our votes’, Nino Burjanadze, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Movement, told journalists after the announcement of the exit poll results.

EurActiv publishes Krzysztof Lisek’s article “Bye, bye Misha!”
"Mikheil Saakashivili, the Georgian leader since 2004, will have to step down following the 27 October presidential election.

Why PM Loathes Second Round

As time goes by, results of presidential elections become more and more unpredictable. One year-old government doubts National Movement’s success, while victory of the Georgian Dream’s candidate in the elections is also questioned.

“Who will run for the second or the third?” is the question that makes the current presidential election different from previous ones. A public and political spectrum more or less agrees that the Georgian Dream candidate Giorgi Margvelashvili might be the first due to the factor of Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. This might happen of course if Margelashvili does not reject his participation in the runoff. Statements made by the PM and Margvelashvili have already “strained and alerted the public.” However, Margvelashvili tried to calm people by declaring that his claims regarding removal of his candidacy unless he did not win in the first round was “more an attack than a step backward”, aiming at stirring-up coalition’s resources.

Interview with presidential candidate Giorgi Targamadze

Vazha-Pshavela said: “The future belongs to him who expediently serves the present.” People are expecting the new reality, expedient and effective. Presidential candidate Giorgi Targamadze tells us whether the offer of Christian-Democrats will be efficient.

Interview with Presidential candidate Nino Burjanadze

“Compared to the times of National Movement, election environment is much healthier,” this is how a Presidential candidate Nino Burjanadze began her interview.

Brother of Deceased former PM: “We will certainly agree to exhumation”

According to Prosecutor’s Office, a new version of ex-Premier Zurab Zhvania’s death was outlined – he wasn’t a victim of an accident. We became aware of the full version of the FBI conclusion. It says the gas heater was operational. We spoke about it with Khatuna Khoperia, a team member of the former PM, and Goga Zhvania, Zurab Zhvania’s brother.

Last week was important for Georgia on its way of integration into Euro-Atlantic structures as NATO accepted its offer to join Rapid Reaction Force from 2015. In the heat of melting cohabitation that counts last days as presidential elections come closer, this news seemed to be unexpected. Several weeks ago, when I asked a comment from one of the political and military experts about the hot news that Georgia could became the member of the NATO rapid reaction team, his answer was not certain and full of doubts and in the end I couldn’t get anything out of him on this topic. It goes to show that it was unexpected and in the middle of aggravated cohabitation this news was like a lightning without thunderstorm. It means that NATO will never lose the merit of Georgia’s military forces and sees its future in Atlantic Alliance.

Call for boycotting the Olympic Games receives over 5 000 signatures

“Georgia forgives Russia a torchbearer, the South Ossetia’s war hero,” Russian news agency Lenta.ru interprets the statement made earlier by the Georgian national Olympic committee that it doesn’t see the grounds for a review of the decision of Georgian sportsmen participation in 2014 Sochi Olympics.

There are less than three weeks left before presidential elections and all we see is haze and misunderstanding about how political parties view the electorate. Presidential campaigns run slowly, with little money. It seems candidates don’t think they need to embark on active campaigning to attract votes of the electorate who are in uncertainty. The size of this electorate is high and is capable of altering the main course of the elections.

“Any link of this tape to Taliban ruled out”

The cyber attack case widely known to the public as Jihad Videos is solved. With the help of American colleagues, MIA found that the video containing threats against Georgian armed forces and Georgian President has been uploaded by the citizen of Kyrgyzstan Samar Chokutayev from a location in Apkhazeti. To cover up the trail, he used USB internet modems of Georgian GSM operators (Magti, Geocell, Mobitel), which he purchased in Zugdidi.

The President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili has offered the party members a new flag for the National Movement. As Saakashvili stated, 10 years ago, the nation turned the five-cross flag of the National Movement into a national one.

Forbes published an article discussing current situation in Georgia.
“Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili delivered a passionate anti-Kremlin speech at the UN General Assembly in New York last week.