American Ambassador Congratulated Both Sides on the Victory of Democracy

Georgian Dream was waiting for the announcement of initial exit poll results in front of the makeshift displays raised next to its office. In the last few minutes they started to inflate blue and coalition-logo balloons, bringing flags out of the office. Although everybody who was present in the office was sure of the imminent victory, the first figures still caused explosive ovation.

The speech of the Georgian Dream leader proved to

“We won with a large margin judging by the exit polls. It’s a victory for the Georgian people,” – said Ivanishvili and thanked everyone who was campaigning together with his team for the victory and all the people who “managed to stand together for their homeland, future and development of the country”.

In Ivanishvili’s words, fulfillment of dreams of Georgian people starts from today but still requires huge efforts. “We are coming to unite the country so that things that were happening in the last period would never happen again; we’ll restore  justice, bring the prosecution to the service to citizens, free media of captivity and revoke its dignity. We will prevail over injustice and return dignity to every family,” – noted Ivanishvili.

He said that it was necessary to respect opponents and that no more persecution of alternative opinions would happen. “This stage is over as of today.”

He talked about foreign policy and said that “Georgian Dream” would continue movement on the path of Euro-Atlantic integration. “We will become a NATO member and will do so with dignity. We will prove that Georgian people truly deserves European democracy. This is the country we promise to our population. We will create a precedent and the country is going to have the genuine government belonging to people, the kind that would surprise even Europeans,” – declared Bidzina Ivanishvili. Then Georgian Dream supporters moved to the Freedom Square and if not for blue flags and reconstructed buildings, you could think that  the 2003 events were  repeated when the Nationals were celebrating the victory rushing around Tbilisi streets with their would-be national red-cross flags.

These victorious cries that were reverberating across Tbilisi streets and even road obstructions did not arise any protest among the passers-by. Even more, multiple car honking received commensurate audio feedbacks from mini-buses and coaches. People got out of buses and joined the public that was amassing on Freedom Square.

The first to appear on the stage was the poet Davit Maghradze together with the Fund Komagi Chair Ia Metreveli. He presented exit poll results to the audience that gathered on the square. “Congratulations! Today Georgian Dream won the elections. Georgia has won. I Congratulate the entire population,” – announced Davit Maghradze.

Several hundred people in the square chanted words “Georgia” and “We Won”. They were slowly joined by supporters. They all were congratulating each other on the victory.

Meanwhile, Press Speaker of the National Movement made a statement in the media center of the party arranged in the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in an effort to calm her own self and the party supporters that they had lost only in the proportional voting and they are leading by the number of majoritarian votes. She even pledged that a victory will stay with them ultimately and that they would enter the Parliament as a majority again.

These sentiments were echoed by the statements made by the “Majority”. It was no wonder though as the President himself formally recognized defeat in the proportional voting. Before the exit polls became known, both Georgian Dream and Nationals were more or less maintaining calm throughout the day and were engaged in accusing each other of violations. Both were repeatedly claiming foul play by the other side.

Later on, Georgian Dream announced that armed groups were entering voting stations across the country and that validity of elections was threatened. But all these were overshadowed by the publication of exit polls. Then President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili appeared live on TV while the Georgian population was looking forward to the official results from the Central Elections Commission. He admitted defeat and announced that his political team was moving to opposition.

“After summarizing preliminary results of the Parliamentary elections it became clear that the coalition Georgian Dream gained an upper hand. It means it is going to form a new government and I – as the President – will within the constitutional bounds help the new Parliament to start functioning, elect the chairperson of the Parliament and form a new government. Opinions of this coalition have been fundamentally unacceptable for me. There are many stark differences between us. We believe that their views are extremely wrong but democracy works in the popular way and hence we honor the choice of the population,” – stated the Georgian President.

Later on, American Ambassador Richard Norland made a statement:”We congratulate the Georgian people on the successful conclusion of their parliamentary elections, which represents a historic milestone in Georgia’s democratic development. Yesterday’s elections mark a victory for the Georgian people: truly competitive elections produced an outcome that represents a significant new configuration in sharing of political power in Georgia. The United States looks forward to working with the parliament and government formed after the final election results are tabulated and all appeals are completed to broaden and deepen our already strong bilateral relationship. We congratulate President Saakashvili on presiding over another important stage in the maturing of Georgia’s democracy and on his statesmanlike handling of these events. We congratulate Bidzina Ivanishvili on Georgian Dream’s successful performance. The United States encourages both sides to work together to continue to build a better future for the people of Georgia.”