Ruling party in Georgia wins local elections

A woman casts her vote during the local election at a polling station in Tbilisi June 15, 2014. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili

TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia's ruling Georgian Dream coalition has won a majority of seats in local councils, the last remaining bastion of former president Mikheil Saakashvili's United National Movement (UNM), which lost a national election two years ago.

Georgian Dream candidates led in most of the 59 municipalities that released preliminary results from Sunday's elections on Monday, although their mayoral candidates in the eight biggest cities, including the capital Tbilisi, will face a runoff in two weeks after failing to cross the 50 percent mark.