This election is a clear defeat for Saakashvili, American political analyst Lincoln Mitchell told InterPressNews.

"His connection to Vashadze proved damaging and may have cost him the election. It is apparent to pretty much everybody outside of Saakashvili’s direct orbit that the former President remains unpopular in Georgia and that anybody too closely connected to him will have a hard time winning an election. It remains true that if Saakashvili really wanted to get the Georgian Dream out of power, he would simply walk away from Georgian politics for a year and let a strong alternative to the GD emerge that is not tainted by the misdeeds of the UNM. What we have seen over the last year shows us that Saakashvili is not capable of that. Although this election was a blow to Saakashvili, I do not read it is as a clear victory for Ivanishvili. Ultimately the Georgian Dream was able to mobilize its ample resources and help get Zurabishvili over the finish line, but the election was close and went to a second round. That is hardly a resounding pat on the back from the Georgian people to the Georgian Dream. The Georgian Dream won this race, but if they are wise they will redouble their efforts to root out corruption, accelerate reforms and begin to more aggressively communicate their acocmplishments to the Georgian people", said Lincoln Mitchell.