Georgian voters are casting their ballots in a parliamentary election seen by many as a crucial vote that will either set the country on a pro-European path or bring it closer to Russia.
More than 3,000 polling stations opened nationwide on Saturday morning, with a total of 18 parties competing to form the country’s next government.
The election campaign in the South Caucasus nation of over 3.7 million people, was overshadowed by widespread claims of voter coercion, illegal collection of personal data, and misuse of administrative resources to benefit the ruling Georgian Dream party, Transparency International Georgia reported in the run-up to the vote.
Founded by pro-Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgian Dream has pushed through a series of policies mirroring Russia’s repressive laws over the past year, including the controversial “foreign agent” law, which was eventually forced through parliament in May despite a presidential veto, as well as legislation banning so-called “LGBT propaganda”.
The election will pit Georgian Dream, which has been in power since 2012, against a number of opposition parties that want to put Georgia back on track towards EU membership, which would involve reversing the controversial laws. The four main opposition parties have agreed to form a coalition government if they collectively secure enough votes to forge a workable majority.
Georgian Dream, meanwhile, has framed the election as an existential struggle against the West, which they say is seeking to open a “second front” against Russia and drag Georgia into the war in Ukraine.
As he cast his ballot on Saturday, Ivanishvili warned that if the opposition won, the country would “turn to ruins almost immediately”. The choice was “simple”, Ivanishvili added. “Either we elect a government that will serve the Georgian people, society and country, or we elect an agent of a foreign country that will only fulfil the tasks of a foreign state,” he said.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili was among the first public figures to cast their ballot, stating: “I voted for the new Georgia for which I came to this country 22 years ago, for which my ancestors prayed. I voted for the Georgia that I am sure all of Georgia is praying for. Tonight, we will all be winners. No one will lose because Georgia will win.”
Transparency International Georgia reported the first case of ballot stuffing on Saturday, with Eka Gigauri, the organisation’s executive director, posting a video shot in Marneuli, southern Georgia, showing unidentified men throwing dozens of ballots into a box in plain sight. The polling station where the incident took place has been closed, and a criminal case has been opened, Giorgi Kalandarishvili, the chairman of Georgia’s Central Election Commission, said.
Preliminary election results are expected to be announced late on Saturday night.