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| Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili admits his loss in parliamentary election and handed-over the power to his rival Bidzina Ivanishvili [File Photo] |
Tbilisi,Georgia: Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili on
Tuesday conceded defeat in the parliamentary election after early result in
country’s ‘historic’ election; he made the announcement in a televised speech.
He said
an opposition coalition led by a billionaire businessman now has the right to
form a government.
Now, it is clear that victory for Bidzina Ivanishvili means the first democratic transfer of power in Georgia's
post-Soviet history.
Earlier on Tuesday election commission
officials said Ivanishvili's Georgia Dream was leading the ruling party's
United National Movement by 54-to-41 percent.
Both parties declared victory Monday night, while thousands of opposition
supporters celebrated in the capital Tbilisi.
Under the new Georgian constitution, the prime minister will assume many of the
powers now held by the president when Saakashvili's second and last term ends
next year. Parliament will choose the new prime minister.
President Saakashvili had said a victory
for Georgian Dream and Ivanishvili as prime minister would move Georgia away
from the West and put it back under Moscow's influence. Ivanishvili denies
this.
His backers accuse the president of being a dictator. They blame him for the
brief but disastrous 2008 war with Russia over the breakaway region of South
Ossetia. Saakashvili's campaign also was hurt last week when videos surfaced of
prison guards beating and raping inmates.