Georgia's Ruling Party Says Will Not Need Coalition To Form Government After Elections

TBILISI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th October, 2020) The ruling Georgian Dream party will form the government after the Georgian parliamentary elections on Saturday without entering into a coalition with other parties, Prime Minister and party member Giorgi Gakharia said on Friday during a briefing.

In Georgia, a political party needs to receive more than 40 percent of votes to form the government.

"Those who are in politics understand that entering a coalition is a common procedure. Fortunately, we will not need this after the 2020 elections," Gakharia said.

In June, the Georgian parliament approved the transition from a mixed voting system to a proportional system, as demanded by the opposition. During the previous parliamentary elections, 73 lawmakers were elected via a majority voting system and 77 via proportional representation. The amendments envision electing 120 lawmakers out of 150 via a proportional representation and the remaining 30 via a majority system.

When commenting on the change of system, Gakharia said that forming coalitions will be possible after the 2024 elections, when the country will move to a fully proportional system.

Meanwhile, the opposition leaders said in a joint statement that no political force would enter into a coalition with the Georgian Dream party. At the same time, The ruling party's executive secretary, Irakli Kobakhidze, said that the Georgian Dream will take approximately 100 seats in the 150-member parliament.

In the latest opinion poll, commissioned by the Imedi tv channel in mid-October, 56 percent of voters said that they would vote for the ruling party. In addition, 19.9 percent of those surveyed said that they would vote for the United National Movement party, which is linked to former President Mikheil Saakashvili.