Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Georgia’s opposition has called for protests after rejecting preliminary results showing victory for the ruling party in a pivotal election widely seen as a choice between a future in Europe or alignment with Russia.
With votes from 99 per cent of precincts counted, the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party controlled by pro-Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili had secured 54.2 per cent of the vote, according to Central Election Commission results early on Sunday.
The main opposition parties — the four-party Coalition for Change and the United National Movement (UNM) founded by jailed former president Mikheil Saakashvili — received 10.8 per cent and 10.1 per cent of the vote, respectively. They have called for protests on Sunday.
If Ivanishvili’s party’s majority in the 150-seat parliament is confirmed, analysts say it could end Georgia’s hopes of securing EU membership and deliver a severe blow to the opposition and civil society. It has been in power for 12 years. “The elections were stolen, this is a coup and the GD is responsible for it and they will be held accountable,” Nika Gvaramia, one of the leaders of the oppositional coalition said late on Saturday.
Tina Bokuchava, the chair of the UNM, also rejected the results: “We will not give up our European future and we will not accept the stolen election results announced by the Central Election Commission,” she said.
Before the polls had even closed on Sunday, GD Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze declared the results a “landslide victory” for the ruling party.
“It’s a rare occasion worldwide for the same party to continue succeeding under such difficult circumstances,” Ivanishvili said from a stage in front of GD’s headquarters.
Observers reported widespread irregularities during the vote, including the distribution of pre-marked ballots, the forced expulsion of observers from polling stations and violations of voting secrecy.
“My Vote,” a domestic electoral observation mission, described the irregularities as part of a “larger scheme” designed to undermine the outcome. The ruling party also pressured state workers to secure their votes, observers said. “They often don’t even need to make explicit threats. Hints like ‘you need to do the right thing’ are enough,” said Natia, an election observer.
Unidentified men dressed in dark jeans and black coats — widely believed to belong to special services — attacked opposition party headquarters and a crew from an opposition TV station. The Financial Times saw these groups outside several polling stations in Tbilisi on Sunday.
In the capital GD polled 38-40 per cent of the vote, while in smaller towns such as Bolnisi and Marneuli it secured 80 per cent, preliminary results on the election commission’s website showed.
The first exit polls had revealed starkly conflicting results. Two polls, conducted by Edison and HarrisX for opposition-leaning TV stations, showed GD receiving between 40.9 and 42 per cent of the vote, while a pro-government station reported 56 per cent.
The elections are seen by many as a watershed moment for Georgia’s future. About 80 per cent of the population support accession to the EU, a prospect made more tangible after Georgia received EU candidate status in December 2023.
While GD formally remains committed to Georgia’s integration with Europe its anti-EU rhetoric stepped up after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Tbilisi refused to impose sanctions on Moscow and barred several Russian opposition politicians from entering the country.
The GD framed the elections as a choice between war and peace, positioning itself as able to maintain equilibrium between the west and the Kremlin. The situation in Georgia closely mirrored the situation of Moldova, where voters last week opted for EU accession with a razor-thin majority.
To promote the war and peace message, GD had launched an aggressive campaign, covering cities with posters that juxtaposed scenes of destruction in Ukraine — burnt buses and ruined buildings — with pristine images of Georgia.
Credit: Source link
