Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

President Mikheil Saakashvili admitted defeat after the bloc of his rival billionaire businessman, Bidzina Ivanishvili, won Monday's parliamentary election in Georgia. Ivanishvili is set to become the next prime minister. Saakashvili will remain president until presidential elections next year.

The winner of parliamentary elections will establish close and friendly relations with the Azerbaijani government, Ivanishvili, the Georgian Dream opposition coalition leader, said at a briefing in Tbilisi.

"We have all the opportunities to establish such relations and we will do our best to do so," Ivanishvili added.

He thanked Azerbaijan's government for supplying gas to Georgia for social needs on preferential terms.

Ivanishvili said there are suitable conditions to establish close relations between the two South Caucasus neighbors.

"I have established friendship with our fellow citizens Azerbaijanis during my pre-election trips and got acquainted with many Azerbaijanis," he said. "I have grown to love these hard-working people, so, I am going to do everything for their integration into Georgian society, for them to hold senior positions in the government."

Parliamentary elections are held in Georgia under a mixed election system. 150 MPs are elected: 77 proportional representation seats are allocated to parties (with a barrier of five per cent) and 73 MPs are elected in single-seat constituencies.

Parliament will receive more authority in 2013 after amendments to the Constitution take effect, resulting in the president's power being reduced.

New government to be set up

Ivanishvili told reporters on Wednesday that he was beginning consultations on the candidacy of a new parliament speaker and composition of the government.

He did not cite any names at this point.

"After consultations with my team, I will be able to be more specific," Ivanishvili said, but added that no minister serving in the incumbent government will be working in his cabinet.

He didn't rule out that President Saakashvili will attempt to dissolve parliament in half a year.

Earlier, Saakashvili, who under the Constitution has the right to introduce his government, said he was ready to accept composition of the Cabinet of Ministers proposed by Ivanishvili and submit it to parliament for approval.

The result of Monday's election means Georgia will have a multi-party parliament, boosting democracy in the nation, observers said.

US, EU welcome vote
Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia in the 1990s with stakes in metals, banking and then property, promised to rebalance relations with Moscow when he appeared before reporters on Tuesday.

"We'll do our best to sort out relations with Russia," he said, but added that he was committed to maintaining ties with the EU and Nato. His success was welcomed in Moscow where Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said it showed that Georgians wanted change and "probably means that more constructive and responsible forces will appear in parliament".

"Anything that would keep Saakashvili further away from the instruments of power is a plus for Russian-Georgian relations," said Vyacheslav Nikonov, deputy head of the Russian parliament's international affairs committee.

Washington appealed to the president and Ivanishvili to work together, praising Georgia's citizens for a "significant step in the consolidation of Georgian democracy".
The White House called it "another milestone in Georgia's democratic development", and said the country had set a "regional and global example by conducting a competitive campaign".

EU officials said the conduct of the vote was "generally positive", choosing not to criticise what observers had described as "a very polarising campaign". The EU said Georgia had shown "a healthy respect for fundamental freedoms".