The ruling Georgian Dream party appeared to have taken the lead with 47.6 per cent of votes in local elections in the Caucasian country on Saturday.
The figure, in an exit poll ordered by the Imedi TV station reported by Russian news agencies, could be enough to avert a snap parliamentary vote.
The elections could cause an escalation in a political stand-off between the ruling party and the opposition.
They have taken on significance amid a months-long political crisis that erupted after the parliamentary election last year and led the opposition to boycott the chamber.
On Friday, one day before the poll, the former president and opposition politician Mikheil Saakashvili was arrested.
According to the exit poll, the the main opposition party, the United National Movement, has garnered 27.1 per cent of votes, Russian news agencies reported.
The UNM was founded by Saakashvili, and its head was arrested in February but released in May after a push by the EU to broker a deal between the party and the government.
That deal collapsed over the summer, when the ruling Georgian Dream party withdrew.
Under the deal, Georgian Dream would have to call snap parliamentary elections if it failed to get 43 per cent of the vote in local elections on Saturday.
A recent opinion poll suggested popular support for Georgian Dream was below that threshold.
Though the deal has now unravelled, political analysts said the vote could trigger protests if the ruling party failed to reach the threshold outlined in the deal and declined to call snap parliamentary elections.
“If Georgian Dream doesn’t get what it got in the previous parliamentary elections, which was 48.22 per cent, we might have some turmoil again, probably another wave of political crisis,” said Soso Dzamukashvili, a junior researcher at Emerging Europe, a think tank.
Saakashvili left Georgia in 2013 and was sentenced to prison in absentia in 2018.
He was arrested on Friday after he returned to Georgia and called on his supporters to vote for the opposition and stage a post-election street protest.
Georgia’s authorities had warned him he would be arrested if he returned.
President Salome Zourabichvili said after his arrest that she would not pardon him, and accused him of trying to destabilise the country.
Saakashvili’s lawyer denounced his arrest on Friday as a “political detention”.
In a letter published on Saturday by his lawyer and shared on his Twitter page, Saakashvili, 53, restated his appeal to his supporters to cast their votes and said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “fabricated, false verdicts” were behind his arrest.
The population of Georgia is about 3.9 million.
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RESULT
Bayern Munich 3 Chelsea 2
Bayern: Rafinha (6'), Muller (12', 27')
Chelsea: Alonso (45' 3), Batshuayi (85')
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: N2 Technology
Founded: 2018
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Startups
Size: 14
Funding: $1.7m from HNIs
The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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