The court did not cancel the by-elections in Sakrebulo Senaki

The Tbilisi City Court upheld the decision of the CEC on holding midterm elections in the Sakrebulo (City Council) of Senaki.

The Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) demanded that the resolution be annulled. The organization stated that it was necessary to appoint not intermediate, but extraordinary elections of the entire Sakrebulo.

The GYLA explains this by the fact that for more than six months from the moment of election, the Senaki City Council was never assembled to hold the first meeting, which is an absolute reason for terminating its powers and calling early elections.

The organization intends to appeal the decision to a higher authority.

Senaki was one of the municipalities where no party had a single majority. Due to the resignation of the deputy from the party “For Georgia” Ilia Akhalaia, the opposition and the government had 16 representatives each, while the presence of at least 17 deputies is required for the meeting. Due to the boycott of the Georgian Dream, the opposition did not have the opportunity to recognize the authority of the one who would replace Akhalai.

If the Sakrebulo had not convened before June 3, early elections would have to be held. However, in May, the parliament adopted amendments according to which the CEC could recognize the powers of Akhalai’s successor – in this case, elections would not be required, since the opposition would have 17 deputies.

However, Vakhtang Tsurtsumia, the majoritarian MP from the United National Movement, also resigned. For this mandate, special elections should be held, in case of victory in which the Georgian Dream will receive a majority.

Local representatives of the National Movement stated that Tsurtsumia was under pressure, including from thieves in law.