Georgia is to hold regional and mid-term parliamentary elections on Sunday, as well as the first ever direct election of the Mayor of Tbilisi.
The results of the elections are expected to determine the political agenda for the upcoming parliamentary (2012) and presidential elections (2013) and, moreover, the future development of the country.
Opposition leaders hope that the elections will stage a referendum on President Mikheil Saakashvili but opinion polls show that the President's party will perform well and his candidate is likely to win the Mayoral seat.
"This is a very important date that will determine the future development of the Georgian state and our country...there will be one main winner in the May 30 election and that is Georgia and the Georgian state," Georgian Parliamentary Chairman David Bakradze said on Friday.
Local elections were supposed to be held in Georgia in the fall of 2010 but were postponed by the president because of mass opposition protests demanding his resignation and early presidential elections.
TBILISI, May 29 (RIA Novosti)
