2006 Georgian local elections

Local elections were held in Georgia on October 5, 2006. The elections follow a decree issued on August 26 by President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, setting the date for the local ballot.

Background

This vote was considered to be the first major test of the authorities commitment to a transparent process in non-revolutionary circumstances. In addition they were to demonstrate the level of public confidence in both the NMD - after a series of scandals - and the opposition, which has begun to strengthen and reorganise that year.

The elections coincided with a very tense period of relations with Russia. After a major diplomatic row regarding alleged Russian spying, the Kremlin has severed all transport and post links with Georgia.

Aftermath

According to preliminary results, the elections were won by the United National Movement led by President Saakashvili with an overwhelming majority. The predominantly Armenian-populated city of Akhalkalaki was the only municipality where an opposition grouping, the Industry Will Save Georgia Party, won a majority of votes. According to international observers, particularly the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, the "municipal elections in Georgia were conducted with general respect for fundamental freedoms; however, the blurred distinction between the ruling authorities and the leading party reinforced the advantage of the incumbents".

Tbilisi Sakrebulo election results

Party		Votes	%	Seats			+/–	Government
				Proportional	Constituency	Total
	National Movement	204 261	66.53	9	25	34	20	Government
	RPG-CPG bloc	36 973	12.04	1	0	1	New	Opposition
	Labour Party	32 701	10.65	1	0	1	14	Opposition
	ISWG	18 671	6.08	1	0	1	3	Opposition
	The Way of Georgia	8 512	2.77	0	0	0	New	Extra-parliamentary
	PGNI	74	0.02	0	0	0	New	Extra-parliamentary
Total		307 015	100			37	±
Electorate/voter turnout		883 806	34.74
Source: [1], [2]

External links

• The Central Election Commission of Georgia Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
• Adam Carr's Election Archive