Mikhail Saakashvili recognizes victory of "Georgian Dream" and expresses his willingness to cooperate

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili recognized victory of the coalition "Georgian Dream" at the parliamentary elections in Georgia and declared that he was willing to cooperate with the oppositional coalition. Constructive statements of political opponents were met by the European Union with approval.

Let us remind you that after counting of 25 percent of the voting protocols of October 1 at the parliamentary elections in Georgia, the "Georgian Dream", the oppositional coalition of Bidzina Ivanishvili, wins. According to the Central Election Commission (CEC), on the proportional system, the coalition gained 53.19 percent of voters. The ruling party "United National Movement" gained 41.51 percent of the votes.

The Georgian President has acknowledged that the opposition won the country parliamentary elections by party lists; however, he has noted that the "United National Movement" (UNM) Party wins in single-seat constituencies. "We should learn to work together, despite the hard pre-election campaign," Mikhail Saakashvili said in the air of the "Rustavi-2" TV Channel. The leader of Georgia called the election campaign tense, emotional, and "a little bit dirty."

According to Mikhail Saakashvili, the new parliamentary majority should form the government, and he, being the President, will further contribute under the Constitution to the start of work of the Parliament, the "Georgia Online" reports.

"At the same time, being the leader of the 'UNM' Party, I want to say that the 'National Movement' goes into opposition. Achievements of the last eight years and of the 'Rose Revolution' are very important not only for the history of Georgia, and it is one of the most important periods in the long history of Georgia; however, those achievements also turned Georgia into one of the key countries for the rest of the world," the President has emphasized.

The European Union welcomes the statements of the participants of the parliamentary elections in Georgia. This was reported by Maya Kosyanchich, Spokesperson for Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. "We congratulate both sides on such meaningful and constructive public statements that they made yesterday immediately after the electoral precincts closed," the RIA "Novosti" quoted Maya Kosyanchich as saying.

According to her, the European Union will continue cooperation with Georgia and it intends to take a course on political and economic rapprochement with the country.

The "Caucasian Knot" also reported that Bidzina Ivanishvili said he hoped to regain citizenship of Georgia after the elections and it is possible that he would occupy the position of Prime Minister.