High-stakes vote decides Georgia's future path in Europe
Paul Kirby - Europe digital editor
Sat, October 26, 2024
Pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili said she was confident the vote would bring about the future Georgians prayed for [BBC]
Georgians are going to the polls to decide whether to end 12 years of increasingly authoritarian rule, in an election that will decide their future path towards the European Union.
Georgia borders Russia and the governing Georgian Dream party is accused by the opposition of moving away from the West and back into Russia's orbit. The EU has frozen Georgia's EU bid because of "democratic backsliding".
"I voted for a new Georgia," said pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili.
Saturday's vote has been described as the most crucial since Georgians backed independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. There were reports of scuffles and vote violations as tempers flared at polling stations.
About 3.5 million Georgians are eligible to vote until 16:00 GMT in this high-stakes election that the opposition is calling a choice between Europe or Russia, but which the government frames as a matter of peace or war.
Georgian Dream is widely expected to come first, but four opposition groups believe they can combine forces to remove it from power and revive Georgia's EU process.
Four out of every five voters are said to back joining the EU in this South Caucasus state, which fought a five-day war with Russia in 2008.
It was only last December that the EU made Georgia a candidate. But that process was halted after the government passed a Russia-style law that requires groups to register as "pursuing the interests of a foreign power" if they receive 20% of funding from abroad.
Politics here has become increasingly bitterly polarised, as Georgian Dream, under the guiding force of Georgia's richest man, Bidzina Ivanishvili, seeks a fourth term of power.
The Mother of Georgia sculpture welcomes visitors with a bowl of wine, but holds a sword to symbolise Georgia's independence [Matthew Goddard/BBC]
If Ivanishvili's party wins a big enough majority, he has vowed to ban opposition parties, notably the biggest, the United National Movement.
Georgian Dream, known as GD, is set to win about a third of the vote according to opinion polls, although they are widely seen as unreliable. If GD is to be unseated, all four of the main opposition groups will have to win upwards of 5% of the vote to qualify for the 150-seat parliament.
Ivanishvili's rhetoric has become increasingly anti-Western and, after voting in Tbilisi, he told reporters that Georgians had a simple choice of either a government that served them, or an opposition of "foreign agents, who will carry out only the orders of a foreign country".
Bidzina Ivanishvili, the guiding force behind Georgia's governing party, says "foreign agents" are seeking to control his country [BBC]
President Zourabichvili has been outspoken in her backing for a broad opposition coalition government to end "one-party rule in Georgia". As she voted she said there would be people "who are victorious, but no-one will lose".
She has agreed a charter with the four big groups so that if they win, a technocrat government will fill the immediate vacuum. It would then reverse laws considered harmful to Georgia's path to the EU and move to snap elections.
Tina Bokuchava, who's chair of the biggest opposition party, United National Movement, insists all credible polls put the opposition ahead.
"What [Bidzina] Ivanishvili doesn't understand is that democracy is about choices. The cycle of political retribution has to end", Source: Tina Bokuchava, Source description: Chair of opposition United National Movement, Image: Tina BokuchavaMore
But while Georgian Dream tells voters they are still on course to join the EU, it has also warned them an opposition victory will trigger war with Russia.
Party billboards show split pictures of devastated cities in Ukraine alongside tranquil Georgia, with the slogan: "No to war! Choose peace."
GD claims the opposition will help the West open a new front in Russia's war in Ukraine, while Georgian Dream will keep the peace with its Russian neighbour, which still occupies 20% of its territory after the 2008 war.
Georgian Dream's national billboard campaign includes pictures showing devastation in Ukraine [Matthew Goddard/BBC]
Although the governing party's claim is unfounded and its billboards have been widely condemned, its message appears to have got through.
In Kaspi, an industrial town to the north-west of Tbilisi, one woman aged 41 told the BBC: "I don't like Georgian Dream, but I hate the [opposition United] National Movement - and at least we'll be at peace."
Another woman called Lali, 68, said the opposition might bring Europe closer, but they would bring war too.
Election observers have reported a number of violations at polling stations, including ballot stuffing and a physical attack on an opposition political figure in Marneuli, south of Tbilisi.
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy said observers had reported violations at 9.1% of polling stations. On the eve of the vote it said people's ID cards had been seized, and pointed to Russian-sponsored disinformation operations.
[BBC]
The BBC spoke to one voter, Aleksandre, in a village north-west of the capital who said he had been threatened by a local GD man with losing his job if he did not sign up to vote for Georgian Dream: "I'm a bit scared of his threat but what can I do?"
Georgian Dream maintains it has made elections more transparent, with a new electronic system for vote counting.
"For 12 years we have an opposition that questions the legitimacy of Georgia's government constantly. And that's absolutely not a normal situation," says Maka Bochorishvili, GD's head of the parliament's EU integration committee.
Maka Bochorishvili says once Georgian Dream wins a fourth term it will sit down with the EU and find a way forward [BBC]
Critics say in some places there is a genuine fear that the vote is not really secret.
"All this speculation about forcing people to vote for certain political parties - at the end of the day you're alone and casting your vote, and electronic machines are counting that vote," said Bochorishvili.
Not far from the centre of Tbilisi, Vano Chkhikvadze points to graffiti daubed in red on the walls and ground outside his office at the Civil Society Foundation.
After the "foreign influence" law was passed, in the face of mass protests in the centre of Tbilisi and other big cities, he says he was personally labelled by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze as a state traitor.
"We were getting phone calls in the middle of the night. Our kids even were getting phone calls. They were threatened."
Ahead of the vote, the EU warned that Georgian Dream's actions "signal a shift towards authoritarianism".
Whoever wins, the loser is unlikely to accept defeat easily.
Evelyn Ann-Marie Dom
Sat, October 26, 2024
There are long queues at Georgia's polling stations and ballot boxes as the country votes in what could be its most pivotal parliamentary elections to date.
As the ruling Georgian Dream government faces off with the coalition of pro-European Union parties, the elections will decide if Georgia is bringing an end to 12 years of increasingly authoritarian rule and will head down a path towards joining the European Union, or if they are to face increased Russian influence.
The ruling Georgia Dream party faces four main opposition parties: United National Movement, Strong Georgia, Coalition for Change and Gakharia for Georgia.
The Georgian population will elect 150 members to parliament through a proportional representation system, of which only the political parties that surpass the 5 per cent election threshold will be represented in the legislative body.
High voter turnout
In total 3,508,294 Georgians who are registered to vote can cast their ballot at 3,111 polling stations. At 5PM local time (3PM CET), data by the Central Electoral Commission showed that Georgia's voter turnout stood at 50.6 per cent.
That is just over five per cent higher than in 2020, where the voter turnout stood at 45.8 per cent - but lower than the 53 per cent turnout during the landmark election in 2012 that brought the Georgian Dream to power. This data does not include expatriate voters.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili cast her ballot at the polling station in the #67 Public School of Tbilisi. She said she voted for "a new Georgia, for which I arrived in this country 22 years ago and my ancestors prayed for."
The leader of the United National Movement coalition Tina Bokuchava said she cast her vote for the European future of Georgia, and is convinced many will choose the same path.
Coalition for Change leader Nika Gvaramia echoed her, and predicted that the opposition would win the election.
Coalition Strong Georgia leader Mamuka Khazaradze said that “this is a crucial election for our country, I am sure that our country will make the right choice. This choice will be towards freedom, Europe, stable peace, and, most importantly, towards the real alternative."
Electronic scanners
It is the first time polling stations were equipped with electronic scanners at the ballot boxes, a new concept for many of them - and it resulted in some technical issues.
Paul Kirby - Europe digital editor
Sat, October 26, 2024
Pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili said she was confident the vote would bring about the future Georgians prayed for [BBC]
Georgians are going to the polls to decide whether to end 12 years of increasingly authoritarian rule, in an election that will decide their future path towards the European Union.
Georgia borders Russia and the governing Georgian Dream party is accused by the opposition of moving away from the West and back into Russia's orbit. The EU has frozen Georgia's EU bid because of "democratic backsliding".
"I voted for a new Georgia," said pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili.
Saturday's vote has been described as the most crucial since Georgians backed independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. There were reports of scuffles and vote violations as tempers flared at polling stations.
About 3.5 million Georgians are eligible to vote until 16:00 GMT in this high-stakes election that the opposition is calling a choice between Europe or Russia, but which the government frames as a matter of peace or war.
Georgian Dream is widely expected to come first, but four opposition groups believe they can combine forces to remove it from power and revive Georgia's EU process.
Four out of every five voters are said to back joining the EU in this South Caucasus state, which fought a five-day war with Russia in 2008.
It was only last December that the EU made Georgia a candidate. But that process was halted after the government passed a Russia-style law that requires groups to register as "pursuing the interests of a foreign power" if they receive 20% of funding from abroad.
Politics here has become increasingly bitterly polarised, as Georgian Dream, under the guiding force of Georgia's richest man, Bidzina Ivanishvili, seeks a fourth term of power.
The Mother of Georgia sculpture welcomes visitors with a bowl of wine, but holds a sword to symbolise Georgia's independence [Matthew Goddard/BBC]
If Ivanishvili's party wins a big enough majority, he has vowed to ban opposition parties, notably the biggest, the United National Movement.
Georgian Dream, known as GD, is set to win about a third of the vote according to opinion polls, although they are widely seen as unreliable. If GD is to be unseated, all four of the main opposition groups will have to win upwards of 5% of the vote to qualify for the 150-seat parliament.
Ivanishvili's rhetoric has become increasingly anti-Western and, after voting in Tbilisi, he told reporters that Georgians had a simple choice of either a government that served them, or an opposition of "foreign agents, who will carry out only the orders of a foreign country".
Bidzina Ivanishvili, the guiding force behind Georgia's governing party, says "foreign agents" are seeking to control his country [BBC]
President Zourabichvili has been outspoken in her backing for a broad opposition coalition government to end "one-party rule in Georgia". As she voted she said there would be people "who are victorious, but no-one will lose".
She has agreed a charter with the four big groups so that if they win, a technocrat government will fill the immediate vacuum. It would then reverse laws considered harmful to Georgia's path to the EU and move to snap elections.
Tina Bokuchava, who's chair of the biggest opposition party, United National Movement, insists all credible polls put the opposition ahead.
"What [Bidzina] Ivanishvili doesn't understand is that democracy is about choices. The cycle of political retribution has to end", Source: Tina Bokuchava, Source description: Chair of opposition United National Movement, Image: Tina BokuchavaMore
But while Georgian Dream tells voters they are still on course to join the EU, it has also warned them an opposition victory will trigger war with Russia.
Party billboards show split pictures of devastated cities in Ukraine alongside tranquil Georgia, with the slogan: "No to war! Choose peace."
GD claims the opposition will help the West open a new front in Russia's war in Ukraine, while Georgian Dream will keep the peace with its Russian neighbour, which still occupies 20% of its territory after the 2008 war.
Georgian Dream's national billboard campaign includes pictures showing devastation in Ukraine [Matthew Goddard/BBC]
Although the governing party's claim is unfounded and its billboards have been widely condemned, its message appears to have got through.
In Kaspi, an industrial town to the north-west of Tbilisi, one woman aged 41 told the BBC: "I don't like Georgian Dream, but I hate the [opposition United] National Movement - and at least we'll be at peace."
Another woman called Lali, 68, said the opposition might bring Europe closer, but they would bring war too.
Election observers have reported a number of violations at polling stations, including ballot stuffing and a physical attack on an opposition political figure in Marneuli, south of Tbilisi.
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy said observers had reported violations at 9.1% of polling stations. On the eve of the vote it said people's ID cards had been seized, and pointed to Russian-sponsored disinformation operations.
[BBC]
The BBC spoke to one voter, Aleksandre, in a village north-west of the capital who said he had been threatened by a local GD man with losing his job if he did not sign up to vote for Georgian Dream: "I'm a bit scared of his threat but what can I do?"
Georgian Dream maintains it has made elections more transparent, with a new electronic system for vote counting.
"For 12 years we have an opposition that questions the legitimacy of Georgia's government constantly. And that's absolutely not a normal situation," says Maka Bochorishvili, GD's head of the parliament's EU integration committee.
Maka Bochorishvili says once Georgian Dream wins a fourth term it will sit down with the EU and find a way forward [BBC]
Critics say in some places there is a genuine fear that the vote is not really secret.
"All this speculation about forcing people to vote for certain political parties - at the end of the day you're alone and casting your vote, and electronic machines are counting that vote," said Bochorishvili.
Not far from the centre of Tbilisi, Vano Chkhikvadze points to graffiti daubed in red on the walls and ground outside his office at the Civil Society Foundation.
After the "foreign influence" law was passed, in the face of mass protests in the centre of Tbilisi and other big cities, he says he was personally labelled by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze as a state traitor.
"We were getting phone calls in the middle of the night. Our kids even were getting phone calls. They were threatened."
Ahead of the vote, the EU warned that Georgian Dream's actions "signal a shift towards authoritarianism".
Whoever wins, the loser is unlikely to accept defeat easily.
Evelyn Ann-Marie Dom
Sat, October 26, 2024
There are long queues at Georgia's polling stations and ballot boxes as the country votes in what could be its most pivotal parliamentary elections to date.
As the ruling Georgian Dream government faces off with the coalition of pro-European Union parties, the elections will decide if Georgia is bringing an end to 12 years of increasingly authoritarian rule and will head down a path towards joining the European Union, or if they are to face increased Russian influence.
The ruling Georgia Dream party faces four main opposition parties: United National Movement, Strong Georgia, Coalition for Change and Gakharia for Georgia.
The Georgian population will elect 150 members to parliament through a proportional representation system, of which only the political parties that surpass the 5 per cent election threshold will be represented in the legislative body.
High voter turnout
In total 3,508,294 Georgians who are registered to vote can cast their ballot at 3,111 polling stations. At 5PM local time (3PM CET), data by the Central Electoral Commission showed that Georgia's voter turnout stood at 50.6 per cent.
That is just over five per cent higher than in 2020, where the voter turnout stood at 45.8 per cent - but lower than the 53 per cent turnout during the landmark election in 2012 that brought the Georgian Dream to power. This data does not include expatriate voters.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili cast her ballot at the polling station in the #67 Public School of Tbilisi. She said she voted for "a new Georgia, for which I arrived in this country 22 years ago and my ancestors prayed for."
The leader of the United National Movement coalition Tina Bokuchava said she cast her vote for the European future of Georgia, and is convinced many will choose the same path.
Coalition for Change leader Nika Gvaramia echoed her, and predicted that the opposition would win the election.
Coalition Strong Georgia leader Mamuka Khazaradze said that “this is a crucial election for our country, I am sure that our country will make the right choice. This choice will be towards freedom, Europe, stable peace, and, most importantly, towards the real alternative."
Electronic scanners
It is the first time polling stations were equipped with electronic scanners at the ballot boxes, a new concept for many of them - and it resulted in some technical issues.
Georgian ruling party wins election, near-complete results show
Felix Light and Lucy Papachristou
Sun 27 October 2024
Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze speaks after the announcement of exit poll results in Tbilisi
TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia's ruling Georgian Dream party received more than 54% of the vote in a parliamentary election on Saturday, with more than 99% of precincts counted, the electoral commission said on Sunday.
The results is a blow to pro-Western Georgians, who had cast the election as a choice between a ruling party that has deepened ties with Russia, and an opposition that had hoped to fast-track integration with the European Union.
Several local and international monitoring organisations, including the Organisation for Scurity and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), are expected to comment on the results on Sunday.
Opposition parties said on Saturday that they do not recognise the results, with one opposition leader calling the results "a constitutional coup".
But Georgian Dream's reclusive billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, who had campaigned heavily on keeping Georgia out of the war in Ukraine, claimed success on Saturday night, with his party putting in its strongest performance since 2012 on the back of huge margins of up to 90% in some rural areas.
"It is a rare case in the world that the same party achieves such success in such a difficult situation - this is a good indicator of the talent of the Georgian people," Ivanishvili told cheering supporters on Saturday night.
Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream says it wants Georgia to join the European Union, though Brussels says the country's membership application is frozen over what it says is Georgian Dream's authoritarian tendencies.
One local monitoring organisation called for the results to be annulled, based on reports of voter intimidation and vote buying, but it did not immediately provide evidence of large-scale falsification.
Last week Moldova voted narrowly to approve its European Union accession in a vote that Moldovan officials said was marred by Russian interference.
(Reporting by Felix Light and Lucy Papachristou; Editing by David Goodman)
Georgia's ruling party wins election over pro-EU opposition
Sky News
Sun 27 October 2024
Georgia's ruling party has won the country's general election, beating its pro-EU and pro-Western opposition.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) said the ruling Georgian Dream party, which has been in power for 12 years, had won 54% of the vote with more than 99% of precincts counted.
Both Georgian Dream and the opposition blocs trying to end its time in power portrayed the vote as an existential choice between moving towards the West - potentially by joining the European Union - or tightening ties with its regionally-dominant neighbour, Russia.
Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of Georgian Dream and a billionaire who made his fortune in Russia, has accused opposition parties of being "an agent of a foreign country that will only fulfil the tasks of a foreign country" - suggesting the West wants Georgia to go to war with Russia.
He also pledged to ban all pro-Western opposition groups if the party won a constitutional majority.
Mr Ivanishvili claimed victory almost immediately after polls closed, saying it was "rare in the world for the same party to achieve such success in such a difficult situation".
But the pro-Western Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who has regularly criticised Georgian Dream, was among the opposition leaders who also claimed victory when competing exit polls were released, with some putting the opposition ahead.
Ms Zourabichvili earlier wrote on X that her bloc, European Georgia, had taken 52%, despite what she called "attempts to rigg (sic) elections".
Pictures were also published of opposition leaders celebrating, confirming their early confidence.
There were reports of voting irregularities and a video shared on social media on Saturday showed a man stuffing ballots into a box at a polling station in Marneuli.
Georgia's Interior Ministry said it launched an investigation and the CEC said a criminal case had been opened and that all results from the polling station would be declared invalid.
Sky News' international correspondent John Sparks, in the capital Tblisi, called it a "stunning result" and predicted many Georgians would find it "unbelievable", as after 12 years in power, a change of government had been widely expected.
The result spells a striking defeat for Ms Zourabichvili, a French emigre, who had made her number one priority "restarting talks with the European Union", Sparks said, while Mr Ivanishvili has moved his party "from being expressly pro-Western to an organisation that is more in line with Russia".
Brussels suspended the country's membership process after Georgian Dream passed laws restricting freedom of speech in the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million people.
The biggest opposition party, United National Movement, said its headquarters came under attack on polling day.
Georgian media also reported two people were taken to hospital after being attacked outside polling stations, one in the city of Zugdidi, the other in Marneuli, a town south of Tbilisi.
Protests have been taking place across the country after the result, with leading opposition figures, including the country's president Salome Zourabishvili, calling on supporters to take to the streets.
Felix Light and Lucy Papachristou
Sun 27 October 2024
Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze speaks after the announcement of exit poll results in Tbilisi
TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia's ruling Georgian Dream party received more than 54% of the vote in a parliamentary election on Saturday, with more than 99% of precincts counted, the electoral commission said on Sunday.
The results is a blow to pro-Western Georgians, who had cast the election as a choice between a ruling party that has deepened ties with Russia, and an opposition that had hoped to fast-track integration with the European Union.
Several local and international monitoring organisations, including the Organisation for Scurity and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), are expected to comment on the results on Sunday.
Opposition parties said on Saturday that they do not recognise the results, with one opposition leader calling the results "a constitutional coup".
But Georgian Dream's reclusive billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, who had campaigned heavily on keeping Georgia out of the war in Ukraine, claimed success on Saturday night, with his party putting in its strongest performance since 2012 on the back of huge margins of up to 90% in some rural areas.
"It is a rare case in the world that the same party achieves such success in such a difficult situation - this is a good indicator of the talent of the Georgian people," Ivanishvili told cheering supporters on Saturday night.
Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream says it wants Georgia to join the European Union, though Brussels says the country's membership application is frozen over what it says is Georgian Dream's authoritarian tendencies.
One local monitoring organisation called for the results to be annulled, based on reports of voter intimidation and vote buying, but it did not immediately provide evidence of large-scale falsification.
Last week Moldova voted narrowly to approve its European Union accession in a vote that Moldovan officials said was marred by Russian interference.
(Reporting by Felix Light and Lucy Papachristou; Editing by David Goodman)
Georgia's ruling party wins election over pro-EU opposition
Sky News
Sun 27 October 2024
Georgia's ruling party has won the country's general election, beating its pro-EU and pro-Western opposition.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) said the ruling Georgian Dream party, which has been in power for 12 years, had won 54% of the vote with more than 99% of precincts counted.
Both Georgian Dream and the opposition blocs trying to end its time in power portrayed the vote as an existential choice between moving towards the West - potentially by joining the European Union - or tightening ties with its regionally-dominant neighbour, Russia.
Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of Georgian Dream and a billionaire who made his fortune in Russia, has accused opposition parties of being "an agent of a foreign country that will only fulfil the tasks of a foreign country" - suggesting the West wants Georgia to go to war with Russia.
He also pledged to ban all pro-Western opposition groups if the party won a constitutional majority.
Mr Ivanishvili claimed victory almost immediately after polls closed, saying it was "rare in the world for the same party to achieve such success in such a difficult situation".
But the pro-Western Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who has regularly criticised Georgian Dream, was among the opposition leaders who also claimed victory when competing exit polls were released, with some putting the opposition ahead.
Ms Zourabichvili earlier wrote on X that her bloc, European Georgia, had taken 52%, despite what she called "attempts to rigg (sic) elections".
Pictures were also published of opposition leaders celebrating, confirming their early confidence.
There were reports of voting irregularities and a video shared on social media on Saturday showed a man stuffing ballots into a box at a polling station in Marneuli.
Georgia's Interior Ministry said it launched an investigation and the CEC said a criminal case had been opened and that all results from the polling station would be declared invalid.
Sky News' international correspondent John Sparks, in the capital Tblisi, called it a "stunning result" and predicted many Georgians would find it "unbelievable", as after 12 years in power, a change of government had been widely expected.
The result spells a striking defeat for Ms Zourabichvili, a French emigre, who had made her number one priority "restarting talks with the European Union", Sparks said, while Mr Ivanishvili has moved his party "from being expressly pro-Western to an organisation that is more in line with Russia".
Brussels suspended the country's membership process after Georgian Dream passed laws restricting freedom of speech in the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million people.
The biggest opposition party, United National Movement, said its headquarters came under attack on polling day.
Georgian media also reported two people were taken to hospital after being attacked outside polling stations, one in the city of Zugdidi, the other in Marneuli, a town south of Tbilisi.
Protests have been taking place across the country after the result, with leading opposition figures, including the country's president Salome Zourabishvili, calling on supporters to take to the streets.
Reuters
Sat 26 October 2024
Georgia’s most powerful man won a parliamentary election on Saturday, according to early official results, a victory which opposition politicians refused to recognize, alleging “falsification.”
The ruling Georgian Dream party’s billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, the opposition, and foreign diplomats had cast the election as a watershed moment that would decide if Georgia moves closer to the West or leans back towards Russia amid the war in Ukraine.
If confirmed, Georgian Dream’s victory would prove a blow to those Georgians who hope for closer integration with Europe in a vote billed as a choice between the West and Russia.
Early official results with 70% of precincts counted, representing the majority of votes cast, showed the ruling party had won 53% of the vote, the electoral commission said. The results do not include most ballots cast by Georgians living overseas.
Opposition parties contested the election results at a news briefing held in the early hours of Sunday and said they would not accept them.
“This is a constitutional coup,” said Nika Gvaramia, leader of the Coalition for Change opposition party, according to the Interpress news agency.
“The Georgian people have cast a vote for the European future of this country, and therefore we will not accept these falsified results published by the CEC (Central Election Commission),” said Tina Bokuchava, leader of the opposition United National Movement.
“We Vote,” a Georgian coalition of electoral observers, said it believed the results “do not reflect the will of the citizens of Georgia,” citing multiple reports of voter intimidation and vote buying.
“We will continue to demand the annulment of the results,” it said.
Rival exit polls gave sharply different projections for the election: The Georgian Dream-supporting Imedi TV channel showed the ruling party winning 56%. Exit polls by the pro-opposition channels showed major gains for the opposition parties.
Ivanishvili, Georgian Dream’s reclusive billionaire founder and onetime prime minister, claimed victory and praised the Georgian people.
“It is a rare case in the world that the same party achieves such success in such a difficult situation – this is a good indicator of the talent of the Georgian people,” Ivanishvili told cheering supporters.
Though Georgian Dream lost out to the combined opposition in parts of the capital, Tbilisi, it won margins of up to 90% in some rural areas.
Supporters of the Georgian Dream party celebrate at the party's headquarters after the announcement of exit poll results in Tbilisi on October 26, 2024. - Irakli Gedenidze/Reuters
The Georgian opposition initially also celebrated victory and some monitors reported election violations. But a parallel count operated by one of the opposition parties showed Georgian Dream in a strong position to win a majority.
Party representatives told Reuters they would be analyzing the results in the coming hours, but stopped short for the moment of alleging any falsifications.
Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia in the 1990s, came to power in 2012 advocating pro-Western views, alongside a pragmatic policy towards Russia.
He has since soured on the West, accusing a “Global War Party” of seeking to drag Georgia into war with Russia, even as he insists Georgia is on course to join the EU.
If victory for Ivanishvili’s party is confirmed, it would be a blow to the EU’s hopes of bringing more former Soviet republics into its orbit. Moldova on Oct. 20 voted by a very slim majority to support EU accession.
Russia had repeatedly signaled it wanted Georgian Dream to win, while accusing Western countries of undue interference in Georgian politics.
“The Georgians won. Well done!” said Margarita Simonyan, the editor of Russian state media outlet RT, which the United States has accused of trying to influence its own presidential election. There was no immediate comment from the EU.
Crucial vote
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili – a one-time ally of the ruling party turned fierce critic whose powers are mostly ceremonial – and independent domestic election monitors had alleged Georgian Dream was engaged in widespread vote-buying and other forms of electoral abuse in the lead-up to the vote.
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), an independent Georgian electoral monitoring group founded in 1995, said it had documented numerous violations and instances of violence outside multiple polling stations.
Members of an election commission count ballots at a polling station after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Oct. 26, 2024. - Kostya Manenkov/AP
Video circulated on social media showing a man stuffing multiple ballots into a voting box in Marneuli, a city of some 25,000 south of Tbilisi. The votes were later declared invalid, a Central Election Commission spokesperson said, according to the Interpress news agency.
Giorgi Kalandarishvili, the chairman of the electoral commission, said the vote was peaceful and free, and said the election had taken place in accordance with international standards.
Change
Some opposition-minded Georgians told Reuters they were disappointed by the results.
Voter Irakli Gotsiridze said: “I’m very disappointed that these are the results. I don’t want to believe it.”
Georgia was once one of the most pro-Western states to emerge from the chaotic aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse. The road leading from Tbilisi’s airport is named after former U.S. President George W. Bush.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Tbilisi’s relations with the West have taken a sharp downward turn. Unlike many Western allies, Georgia declined to impose sanctions on Moscow, while Georgian Dream’s rhetoric has become increasingly pro-Russian.
Georgian Dream has drawn the ire of its Western allies for what they cast as its increasingly authoritarian bent. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban congratulated Georgian Dream for an “overwhelming victory.”
Georgian Dream had campaigned hard on keeping Georgia out of the war in Ukraine, with campaign billboards contrasting pristine Georgian cities with devastated Ukrainian ones.
Sandro Dvalishvili, a 23-year-old Georgian Dream activist, told Reuters last week that Georgia would face “danger” if his party of choice was defeated at the polls.
“If it turns out that we don’t win, for me that’ll be very bad. Because I don’t see another force that will bring peace and stability to our country,” he said.
Ruling party set to win Georgia election amid opposition protests
Irakli METREVELI
Sat 26 October 2024
Brussels has warned that the election will determine European Union-candidate's chances of joining the bloc (Giorgi ARJEVANIDZE) (Giorgi ARJEVANIDZE/AFP/AFP)
Georgia's ruling party claimed victory in a legislative election Saturday that the pro-western opposition denounced as a "constitutional coup" and could deal a new blow to the Caucasus country's hopes of joining the European Union.
If the partial results confirm the victory of the Georgian Dream party, the country could be heading for closer ties with neighbouring Russia.
Brussels has harshly criticised the Georgian Dream's policies and said the election would play a decisive role in Georgia's chances of joining the EU.
With votes from more than 70 percent of precincts counted, the central election commission said Georgian Dream was leading with 53 percent, while the main opposition union was on 38 percent.
That would give Georgian Dream 89 seats in the 150-member parliament -- enough to govern but short of the absolute majority it wants to make sweeping constitutional changes. Final results were expected on Sunday.
"Georgian Dream has secured a solid majority", the party's executive secretary, Mamuka Mdinaradze, told reporters.
Tina Bokuchava, leader of the opposition United National Movement (UNM), which campaigned on a pro-European platform, said however the results were "falsified" and the election "stolen".
"This is an attempt to steal Georgia's future," she said, insisting that the UNM did not accept the results. "We hope that the opposition will be united in all calls for action that will be announced in the hours to come."
Nika Gvaramia, leader of the Akhali party, called it a "a constitutional coup" by the government. "Georgian Dream will not stay in power," he said.
The opposition has staged mass demonstrations in recent months against what it says are government attempts to curtail democratic freedoms and steer the country of four million off its pro-Western course.
Rival exit polls published after voting ended had shown the ruling party and the opposition ahead.
Pro-opposition Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili hailed a victory for "European Georgia" despite "attempts to rig" the vote after one exit poll said the opposition won.
After another showed a win for the government, Georgian Dream's billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili hailed the party's "success" at a post-election rally where he pumped his fist in celebration.
"I assure you, our country will achieve great success in the next four years. We will do a lot," he said.
Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is also friendly with Moscow, was quick to hail Georgian Dream's "overwhelming victory" on social media.
- Alleged voting violations -
Tbilisi voters had expressed diverging views over their country's future as they cast ballots.
"Of course, I have voted for Europe. Because I want to live in Europe, not in Russia. So, I voted for change," said Alexandre Guldani, an 18-year-old student.
But Giga Abuladze, who works in a kindergarten, said "We should be friends with Russia -- and Europe".
Opposition parties alleged incidents of ballot stuffing and intimidation during voting.
Zurabishvili said there had been "deeply troubling incidents of violence" at some polling stations.
One video circulated on social media showed a fight between dozens of men outside a polling station in suburban Tbilisi.
Another showed scuffles outside a Tbilisi campaign office of the UNM, whose founder ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili is in jail.
The were also videos of alleged ballot stuffing in the southeastern village of Sadakhlo.
- Anti-Western rhetoric -
In power since 2012, Georgian Dream initially pursued a liberal pro-Western policy agenda. But it has reversed course over the last two years.
Its campaign centred on a conspiracy theory about a "global war party" that controls Western institutions and is seeking to drag Georgia into the Russia-Ukraine war.
In a country scarred by Russia's 2008 invasion, the party has offered voters bogeyman stories about an imminent threat of war, which only Georgian Dream could prevent.
Russia still has military bases in two separatist regions.
Georgian Dream's controversial "foreign influence" law this year, targeting civil society, sparked weeks of street protests and was criticised as a Kremlin-style measure to silence dissent.
The move prompted Brussels to freeze Georgia's EU accession process, while Washington imposed sanctions on dozens of Georgian officials.
The ruling party has also mounted a campaign against sexual minorities. It has adopted measures that ban LGBTQ "propaganda", nullify same-sex marriages conducted abroad, and outlaw gender reassignment.
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Partial results show Georgia's ruling pro-Russian party ahead in crucial vote
NEWS WIRES
Fri 25 October 2024
Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, is set to win Saturday’s parliamentary election, according to partial results, but pro-Western opposition parties said the results were "falsified" and the election "stolen".
Georgia's ruling party claimed victory in a legislative election Saturday that the pro-western opposition denounced as a "constitutional coup" and could deal a new blow to the Caucasus country's hopes of joining the European Union.
If the partial results confirm the victory of the Georgian Dream party, the country could be heading for closer ties with neighbouring Russia.
Brussels has harshly criticised the Georgian Dream's policies and said the election would play a decisive role in Georgia's chances of joining the EU.
With votes from more than 70 percent of precincts counted, the central election commission said Georgian Dream was leading with 53 percent, while the main opposition union was on 38 percent.
That would give Georgian Dream 89 seats in the 150-member parliament -- enough to govern but short of the absolute majority it wants to make sweeping constitutional changes. Final results were expected on Sunday.
"Georgian Dream has secured a solid majority", the party's executive secretary, Mamuka Mdinaradze, told reporters.
Tina Bokuchava, leader of the opposition United National Movement (UNM), which campaigned on a pro-European platform, said however the results were "falsified" and the election "stolen".
Rival exit polls published after voting ended had shown the ruling party and the opposition ahead.
Georgia’s ruling party celebrates victory but it's unclear who will form next government
Euronews
Sat 26 October 2024
Georgia’s ruling party is leading the official results of Saturday’s parliamentary election, a crucial vote which could decide the country’s future in Europe.
The ruling Georgian Dream party's leaders and supporters began celebrations in Tbilisi late Saturday.
The Central Election Commission in the South Caucasus country says Georgian Dream won 52.99% of the vote.
The CEC said the announcement was preliminary with the majority of the vote counted. Not all paper ballots and votes cast by Georgians abroad have been counted.
If Georgian Dream wins a parliamentary majority, it will stoke fears about the country’s bid for EU membership which was put on hold earlier this year by Brussels after the ruling party passed laws cracking down on freedom of speech.
However, Georgia’s opposition disputed results of the vote.
"We do not accept these falsified election results," Georgian opposition leader Tina Bokuchava said Saturday.
Bokuchava is the leader of opposition party United National Movement, part of the Unity National Movement coalition.
Opposition disputed the results after officials said the ruling party led the crucial vote which could decide whether the country pivots to embrace the West or falls back into Russia's orbit.
Georgian Dream stood against four main opposition groups, which indicated they did not accept the results. The opposition initially declared victory shortly after polls closed at 8 p.m. local time (1600 GMT).
Georgia's ruling party wins pivotal election, early results show
Reuters Videos
Updated Sat 26 October 2024
STORY: Georgia's most powerful man claimed victory in an election on Saturday, according to early official results.
With 70% of precincts counted, those results showed the ruling Georgian Dream party had won 53% of the vote, the electoral commission said. The results do not include most ballots cast by Georgians living overseas.
The Georgian opposition initially also celebrated victory... and some monitors reported election violations.
But a parallel count operated by one of the opposition parties showed Georgian Dream in a strong position to win a majority.
Though it lost out to the combined opposition in parts of the capital, Tbilisi, it won margins of up to 90% in some rural areas.
However, opposition parties are contesting the results and said they would not accept them, with the leader of the Coalition for Change party calling it a, quote, "constitutional coup," according to the Interpress news agency.
Georgian Dream's billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, the opposition, and foreign diplomats had cast the election as a watershed moment that would decide if Georgia moves closer to the West... or leans back towards Russia.
Ivanishvili told a crowd in Tbilisi that, quote, "It is a rare case in the world that the same party achieves such success in such a difficult situation - this is a good indicator of the talent of the Georgian people."
Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia in the 1990s, came to power in 2012 advocating pro-Western views, alongside a pragmatic policy towards Russia.
He's since soured on the West, accusing a "Global War Party" of seeking to drag Georgia into war with Russia, even as he insists Georgia is on course to join the EU.
If victory for Ivanishvili's Dream party is confirmed, it would be a blow to the EU's hopes of bringing more former Soviet republics into its orbit.
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