Irakli Kirtskhalia: Georgian Dream candidates will win by wide margins

Georgian Dream’s candidates will win the elections by wide margins, parliamentary majority leader and Georgian Dream faction chair Irakli Kirtskhalia said on Saturday.

Speaking at a briefing at the ruling party’s headquarters, Kirtskhalia said voting was proceeding peacefully and urged citizens to remain active.

“According to data as of 17:00, voter turnout stood at 39% in Akhmeta, 50% in Dmanisi, 37% in Tsalka and 57% in Vani. I encourage voters to participate, although these figures already indicate high turnout across all seven polling stations,” Kirtskhalia said.

He said the peaceful conduct of the vote was significant and contrasted the current situation with events surrounding the October 4, 2025 local elections.

“Tomorrow is October 4. Everyone remembers October 4, 2025, and the opposition’s slogan: ‘We start on the 4th and finish on the 4th.’ We also remember the scenario they launched and which was ultimately brought to an end by Georgian Dream and the public. That scenario is now a thing of the past,” he said.

Kirtskhalia argued that the current electoral process demonstrated how elections should be conducted in a democratic state, with political parties and opposition groups participating through electoral mechanisms.

He sharply criticised parts of the opposition, describing them as an “agent network” and claiming their conduct showed they had failed in what he called previous “revolutionary scenarios”.

“Today we see everything proceeding peacefully. This is extremely important and once again demonstrates where these forces, which call themselves political parties, actually stand,” he said.

Kirtskhalia noted that opposition parties had failed to nominate a candidate in one constituency and said Lelo was the only opposition party that had decided to participate in the election. He also pointed to the non-participation of the Gakharia for Georgia party.

According to Kirtskhalia, the opposition parties’ participation or lack of it and the overall electoral environment reinforced Georgian Dream’s arguments for seeking constitutional proceedings against certain political parties.

“I am confident that every Georgian Dream candidate will win by a very wide margin,” Kirtskhalia said.