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Monday, October 09, 2006

GEORGIA WINS!!

Pro-West President Mikhail Saakashvili has won a resounding victory in recent municipal elections in Tbilisi, declared free and fair by Western observers and held in the middle of a massive assault on Georgia by Russia. The people of Georgia have poked their finger right in the eye of Russia. Congratulations! Georgia is emerging from the darkness of Russian imperialism and we must stand beside her as she completes her brave and perilous journey. Following close on the heels of Estonia's election of a pro-West president, this deals a devastating setback to Russia's imperial hopes in the former USSR. Just as America was able to hold democratic elections in the middle of the Civil War, Georgia has now proved its own remarkable determination and resiliency to build a new kind of life beyond the evil clutches of the Kremlin.

Civil Georgia reports:

With all votes already counted in Tbilisi, official results give President Saakashvili’s National Movement party 34 seats out of 37 in the capital city’s council (Sakrebulo). The remaining seats will be distributed among parties that received at least 4% of the total votes;however, in practice this provision might be invalid. According to the rule on the distribution of seats among the parties, garnering more than 4% does not automatically guarantee that the party will have a seat in the Sakrebulo. The ruling National Movement party got a total of 66,42% of votes in Tbilisi’s ten constituencies, followed by a coalition of the Republican and Conservative opposition parties with 12% of votes.

The opposition Labor and Industry Will Save Georgia parties garnered 10,67% and 6.09%, respectively and ex-Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili's party Georgia's Way - 2,7%.

The ruling party separately won the polls in all ten of the two- and three-mandate constituencies as well, which automatically gives it the 25 majoritarian seats in the Tbilisi Sakrebulo. The ruling party will be given a further nine seats according to the percentage of votes it received in the party-list, proportional contest.

The distribution of the remaining three seats might become a source of controversy.

A coalition of Republican and Conservative parties and the Labor Party each have at least one guaranteed seat in the Tbilisi Sakrebulo. But the Industrialist Party, although it has overcome the 4% threshold, might not get a seat.

The provision of the Election Code that defines the rules for municipal elections in the capital city says that “Only those parties that garner no less than 4% of ballots cast, will be able to gain proportional mandates.”

The next provision of the law defines how to calculate the number of mandates each party will receive - which translates into the number of seats in the Sakrebulo. This calculation is made based on the number of votes cast for that party as a proportion of the total number of votes cast for parties that overcome the 4% threshold.

As a result of this calculation, the Industrialist Party should be given 0,7 mandates in the Sakrebulo. But the rule also says that this figure is then rounded down to the nearest whole number to determine the number of seats each party is given. For the Industrialists, 0,7 mandates translates to 0 seats. “This rule of calculation is so complicated and unclear that we might even be left out of the Sakrebulo, although we have overcome the 4% threshold,” MP Zurab Tkemaladze, the leader of the Industrialists party said.

The issue will most likely trigger controversy and debates, because it was a political commitment of the political forces that each party overcoming 4% should have a seat in Sakrebulo, while in practice this commitment is overturned by the law.CEC says that election results in the provincial constituencies are not yet available.Below are the election results in each of the Tbilisi's constituency:

Three-mandate constituencies:

1. Saburtalo
• National Movement - 57,9%
• Coalition of Republicans and Conservatives - 17,1%
• Labor Party - 10,7%
• Industrialists - 8.1%
• Georgia’s Way - 4,4%

2. Isani
• National Movement - 71,7%
• Labor Party - 10,3%
• Coalition of Republicans and Conservatives - 10,1
• Industrialists - 4,2%
• Georgia’s Way - 1,9%

3. Samgori
• National Movement - 73,5%
• Labor Party - 9,9%
• Coalition of Republicans and Conservatives - 8,4%
• Industrialists - 3,6%
• Georgia’s Way - 1,7%
• Party of National Ideology - 0,2%

4. Nadzaladevi
• National Movement - 67,5%
• Labor Party - 12,7%
• Coalition of Republicans and Conservatives - 11,3%
• Industrialists - 4,5%
• Georgia’s Way - 2,2%

5. Gldani
• National Movement - 68,8%
• Coalition of Republicans and Conservatives - 14,1%
• Labor Party - 10,5%
• Industrialists - 3,2%
• Georgia’s Way - 1,5%

Two-mandate constituencies:

1. Mtatsminda
• National Movement - 58,7%
• Coalition of Republicans and Conservatives - 12,4%
• Labor Party - 10,9%
• Industrialists - 10,5%
• Georgia’s Way - 5,3%

2. Vake
• National Movement - 59,4%
• Coalition of Republicans and Conservatives - 13,1
• Labor Party - 9,4%
• Industrialists - 12,7%
• Georgia’s Way - 4,6%

3. Krtsanisi
• National Movement - 77%
• Labor Party - 8,4%
• Coalition of Republicans and Conservatives 5,7%
• Industrialists - 5,1%
• Georgia’s Way - 1,6%

4. Chugureti
• National Movement - 64,3%
• Labor Party - 12 7%
• Coalition of Republicans and Conservatives - 10,9%
• Industrialists - 6,9%
• Georgia’s Way- 3,1%
• Party of National Ideology

5. Didube
• National Movement - 60,8%
• Coalition of Republicans and Conservatives - 14,7%
• Labor Party - 11,3%
• Industrialists - 6,1%
• Georgia’s Way - 3,3%

4 comments:

La Russophobe said...

ANNA: I didn't know that and I don't think it's the least bit irrational for you to be proud of it. Obviously that University played a great role in his development, and it's logical to think you got the same benefits. It's actually very good to know, hopefully it will enable him to foster close ties with Ukraine as it struggles to break free from Russian influence (Georgia's president should consider himself luck that at least he hasn't been poisoned like Yushchenko was, knock wood!).

Conversely, I once spent a few moments standing in front of a weird sort of shrine that the officals of the university in St. Petersburg where Putin graduated erected to St. Vladimir (despite the clear proof that he plagiarized his dissertation), and although I had nothing to do with it I still feel a bit dirty to this day just for having been near the thing.

It just goes to show that even in the darkest hours great things are still possible -- well, outside of Russia anyway.

La Russophobe said...

UGLY: You're an illiterate baboon. The Kremlin had clearly expressed preferences among the parties that were running. IT PREFERRRED ANY OF THEM TO THE RULING PARTY. Nitwit. What's more, the Kremlin attempted a coup d'etat against Saakasvihli, which failed miserably (as usual for Russia) and drove him even deeper into the NATO fold.

La Russophobe said...

UGLY: I wasn't trying to insult you, I was trying to insult baboons.

Let me get this straight: You're saying that you think the Kremlin didn't care whether Saakashvili's party won? I should have told you, this blog is a narcotics-free zone, you're not allowed to be stoned while posting. Or are you saying that although the Kremlin didn't want Saakashvili's party to win, it did nothing to try to influence the outcome, even though it was willing to precipitate A COUP D'ETAT against his regime?

Nobody is saying the Kremlin made official statements telling Georgians who to vote for. That is how NOT to influence people. Instead, the Kremlin uses bribes and threats at Ground Zero.

My blog is full of official statements from the President that Russians sponsored a coup d'etat in his country. That is why his government ARRESTED various Russians and risked massive Russian retalation. I'm not going to read my blog for you. If you can't be bothered to read it, you have no business writing comments here.

La Russophobe said...

"Kremlin didn't care whether Saakashvili's party won. It was inevitable at this time and actions to prevent it was useless"

Have you ever heard the story of the fox and the grapes?

Have you ever heard of rationality and logic? If the Kremlin didn't care who won, then why would they want to consider any actions to change the result? Can you think AT ALL?

I must congratulate you on the single most dishonest statement from a Russophile I have ever heard, that the Kremlin doesn't care whether Saakashvili's party wins or loses. That's Guiness Book of Records stuff. Pretty soon, Russophiles will leap out of windows believing they can fly.

That will be a good day. Yes sir, a very good day indeed.