Azernews.Az

By Arslan Abbasov

The parliamentary elections in Georgia were held transparently and observers in their evaluations stressed that Georgia is a democratic country, Georgian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Teymuraz Sharashenidze said Tuesday at a press conference on the results of the elections.

For the first time power in Georgia has been transferred through elections after the collapse of the USSR, he said.

Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia on October 1. Around 14 political parties and two political blocs stood in the elections.

Opposition coalition Georgian Dream won 83 out of 150 seats in the Georgian parliament. The United National Movement (UNM) of President Mikheil Saakashvili, who will remain president until his current term ends in October 2013, will have 67 seats.

The majority of the president's executive powers will be transferred to the new prime minister under constitutional reforms that take effect in January.

According to the party lists, around 44 members will join the parliament from the Georgian Dream coalition and 33 from the UNM.

On the single-party districts, Georgian Dream will get 39 deputy seats, while the UNM will receive 34.

The Georgian Dream coalition leader who won the parliamentary elections, Bidzina Ivanishvili, introduced his candidates for ministerial posts in the new Georgian government at the coalition's headquarters in Tbilisi on Monday. Ivanishvili is expected to take the post of prime minister.

Ambassador Sharashenidze said that at present, the Georgian courts are challenging the results in several constituencies, so the election tallies are still considered preliminary, but this will not impact the distribution of power in parliament.

Sharashenidze noted that President Saakashvili has conceded defeat and announced his readiness to hand over power.

He said further it was reassuring that Georgia does not change its policy, and the priority of the country's policy is European integration and cooperation in the region with strategic partners, including Azerbaijan.

"Bilateral relations between Georgia and Azerbaijan were clearly articulated in Ivanishvili's message," the diplomat said. "We have excellent relations in the political, economic and humanitarian fields. All directions will be developed."

Sharashenidze said the delimitation of borders between Azerbaijan and Georgia is progressing.

"Around two-thirds of the border has been delineated. The work will be continued with the new government. A meeting will be held soon, and since there is political will between the two parties, we hope that the issue will be resolved soon."

The ambassador said regional projects are among the priorities in the relations between Georgia and Azerbaijan, and they will further develop.

"The Azerbaijani and Georgian sides have completed their parts of the construction work within one of these projects -- Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, and now the construction should be completed in Turkey," he said.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project aims to directly link the railway systems of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to transport large amounts of cargo and passengers. The railway is being built in accord with an inter-governmental agreement reached by the three countries.

Sharashenidze said there is difficult landscape and relief for construction operations in Turkey and it will take some time for the country to complete the work.

Sharashenidze added that the project is of great importance for the region, so, "no wonder it is called the Project of The Century".