Georgian president concedes his ruling party's defeat in parliament polls

 • Georgian President Saakashvili conceded his ruling party's defeat in Monday's parliamentary polls.

 • Saakashvili said it was clear the opposition Georgian Dream had won a majority.

 • Opposition coalition Georgian Dream is leading the ruling party by 53.02% to 41.75% of the votes.

TBILISI, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- President Mikhail Saakashvili on Tuesday conceded his ruling party's defeat in Georgia's parliamentary elections.

Saakashvili said in a televised speech that it was clear the opposition Georgian Dream had won a majority in Monday's vote and gained the right to form a government.

"I, as a president, will promote the parliament to start working, elect a new chairman and form a new government within the constitutional terms," Saakashvili said.

The president said that he respected the choice of the majority and expressed his gratitude to those who had supported the ruling United National Movement party.

After having counted a fifth of the votes cast on Monday, the country's election commission said that the opposition coalition was leading the ruling party by 53.02 percent to 41.75 percent of the votes.

There were 3,719 polling stations in the South Caucasus country.

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