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In Georgia, voters chose between the parties of President Mikheil Saakashvili and his chief rival, Bidzina Ivanishvili.
In Georgia, voters chose between the parties of President Mikheil Saakashvili and his chief rival, Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Georgia

Liveblog: Parliamentary Elections In Georgia

Parliamentary polls in Georgia on October 1 were seen as a key test of competing visions of the country's political course. Follow the elections and their aftermath with RFE/RL.

15:11 2.10.2012

Thanks to everyone for reading, crediting, and linking to this live blog. We will not be updating it anymore, but please stay with RFE/RL (on Twitter too: @RFERL) for the latest from Georgia.

11:23 2.10.2012

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili speaking on October 2 in a televised address from Tbilisi.

"For us, for me, the views of the [Georgian Dream] coalition have been and remain fundamentally unacceptable. There are deep differences between us. We believe that their views are extremely erroneous. But democracy works so that decisions are made by a majority of the Georgian people and we, of course, respect that strongly," Saakashvili said.

"The United National Movement will be an opposition party now. The achievements of the past eight years, of the Rose Revolution -- which is one of the most important moments in the entire centuries-old history of Georgia -- are not only important for Georgia's history, but these achievement have also turned Georgia into one of the key countries for the rest of the world, so I'm confident that no matter what threats these achievement face in the next months or years, it is impossible to obliterate them," Saakashvili said.

10:58 2.10.2012
In a televised address, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has conceded that his ruling United National Movement (UNM) party has lost the October 1 parliamentary elections and is going into opposition.

President Mikheil Saakashvili addresses supporters at a rally of his ruling United National Movement party in Batumi on September 29, 2012.
President Mikheil Saakashvili addresses supporters at a rally of his ruling United National Movement party in Batumi on September 29, 2012.
10:47 2.10.2012
Watch the live stream of the press conference held by the international election observers in Georgia.


Video streaming by Ustream
10:37 2.10.2012
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10:11 2.10.2012
09:58 2.10.2012
A lot of outside analysis rolling in. Here is Daniel Larison on why Georgian Dream's success is not a vistory for Moscow.

Via "The American Conservative" -

Georgian Dream’s apparent success is not a blow to Georgia’s “rose” revolution. If anything, it represents the partial realization of some aspirations of many of Saakashvili’s earlier supporters. It would have been a great embarrassment for Georgia if the ruling party had won an easy victory after the revelations of the abuses in Georgia’s prison system, to say nothing of all of the other abuses of power by the ruling party. This outcome is not a loss for the U.S. or the West. To the extent that it creates an opening for reduced tensions between Russia and Georgia, this outcome is a benefit to both countries and the region as a whole.
09:46 2.10.2012

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