“Thank you to every citizen who went to the polling stations on October 4. Special thanks to the citizens who support Georgian Dream, who once again strengthened the democratic mandate that the government holds,” stated Shalva Papuashvili, Speaker of Georgia’s Parliament, at a meeting of the parliamentary bureau.

According to him, these elections confirmed through the citizens’ mandate that all the government’s political and legal decisions have the support of the people.

“I would like to congratulate everyone on the successful conduct of the local government elections and extend my congratulations to the entire country. It is significant that this marks the completion of the electoral cycle, following last year’s parliamentary elections, then the presidential election, and now, on October 4, the local government elections. All elective constitutional bodies are now in place, providing the country with the opportunity to focus fully on the development plans presented by the victorious team during both the parliamentary and local government elections over the next three years.

As a representative of Georgian Dream, I’m pleased that in terms of support, we have essentially replicated the parliamentary election results. More than 1.1 million citizens supported Georgian Dream, and thus, in the local government elections, we repeated the parliamentary election result. I would remind you that this is a higher result than Georgian Dream had in the 2021 local government elections, which were then declared a referendum and given an almost parliamentary character.

Therefore, I wish to begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to every citizen who visited the polling stations on October 4 to register their political preference, regardless of which party they support. Of course, special thanks go to the citizens who support Georgian Dream, once again strengthening the democratic mandate entrusted to the government and reinforcing the belief that we are acting correctly, in accordance with our country’s national interests. This was to some extent an assessment of the year-long externally imposed process we found ourselves in. Through these elections too, citizens once again confirmed the correctness of our steps and the government’s policy. Through these elections, through the citizens’ mandate, it was confirmed that all the government’s political and legal decisions have the support of our citizens; absolutely all decisions, including the laws adopted over this past year. This is democracy. The people’s word is paramount. Power comes from the people, and through this year-long electoral cycle, the people have transferred their mandate of power to the current government,” Shalva Papuashvili declared.