CEC of Georgia: Gigi Ugulava wins election

Under preliminary data of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Georgia, after tabulation of ballot papers from 774 polling stations, the incumbent Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava, who is representing the party in power "United National Movement", is in the lead of the new election race. He has won 55.23 percent of votes. The runner-up is Irakli Alasaniya (19.5 percent), and Giorgi Chanturiya is in the third position (10.71 percent).

Tonight, at the meeting with his voters, Irakli Alasaniya, leader of the "Alliance for Georgia", said the election of Tbilisi Mayor took place.

"I respect the free choice of all the voters who preferred to cast ballots for my opponents. I would like Mr Ugulava to fulfil all the promises he had given to voters during his pre-election campaign," Mr Alasaniya said.

As to the results achieved by his "Alliance" at the election, according to his version, the organization has proved itself as the main and uncontested oppositional force.

"We continue our struggle, trying both to modernize the electoral system and improve the political situation in the country for the sake of our victory at future parliamentary elections. We'll answer the expectation of our people and succeed in our fight," he has stated.

John Bass, US Ambassador to Georgia, has stated that the present elections in Georgia were successful, as compared with previous ones; and the Georgian society has made a big step forward to democracy development. He hopes that the forthcoming parliamentary and presidential elections will be still better.

Currently, the totals of voting on proportional lists have been partially counted for the whole of the country. According to the data received from 1485 out of 3694 polling stations, the party in power "United National Movement" is in the lead with 61.07 percent of votes. Behind him, practically side by side, are the Christian-Democratic Party (11.65 percent) and the "Alliance for Georgia" (11.78 percent). The fourth place belongs to the "National Council" - 7.65 percent, the fifth one - to the Party "Industry will Save Georgia" - 4.96 percent. Other participants have less than one percent of votes.