Georgia’s opposition is refusing to recognize preliminary results from Saturday’s parliamentary elections, which showed the national-conservative ruling party in the lead with 70% of the votes counted.
The election commission said Georgian Dream – which promotes cooperation with Russia – is in the lead with 53% of the votes, securing an absolute majority.
The electoral alliance Unity, which also includes the opposition United National Movement party, reportedly received around 10% of the vote, behind the Coalition for Change camp with around 11%.
Four pro-European opposition blocs that exceeded the 5% threshold together accounted for around 38% of the vote, according to the election commission.
Speaking in the capital Tbilisi late on Saturday, Tinatin Bokuchkva, the leader of the United National Movement, accused the election commission of “carrying out the dirty work of billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.”
Ivanishvili, 68, is the founder and honorary chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, which promotes cooperation with Russia.
Shortly after the polls closed, he had already started celebrating his party’s victory.
The pro-Western opposition alliance, the Coalition for Change, also stated that it would not recognize the results. “The elections were stolen from the opposition. This is a constitutional coup and abuse of power,” politician Nika Gvaramia told a news conference.
Gvaramia charged that the elections were rigged using a complicated technological scheme, but did not provide details.
President Salome Zourabichvili, who has close ties to the opposition, said on X that pro-European parties had received 52% of the vote.
“I am proud and confident in our European future,” she said.
Voter turnout at 59%
According to preliminary figures, voter turnout in the elections was approximately 59%.
About 3.5 million citizens were called to vote, both at home and abroad.
A resounding victory for Georgian Dream could threaten the country’s chances of joining the European Union after the party passed a number of controversial laws in recent years.
However, the process is at a standstill due to these controversial laws.
That is why, in the run-up to the elections, especially pro-Western forces talked about fateful elections for the country, which is at a crossroads and where both Russia and the West have strong influence.
Electoral success for the party founded by billionaire Ivanishvili could mean the country moves away from the EU and towards closer cooperation with its major neighbor Russia.
Ivanishvili became a billionaire through business deals in Russia.
Scattered reports of irregularities
Over the course of Saturday, local media reported on individual incidents and conflicts at polling stations.
In the small town of Marneuli in the southeast of the country, a man threw several ballot papers into a ballot box at a polling station, according to the Central Election Commission.
The result at the polling station would not be counted, it was said. The opposition and the government blamed each other for the incident.
The Ministry of the Interior has initiated criminal proceedings.
Due to the polarized situation in the country and concerns about electoral fraud, many observers were deployed by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to monitor the elections.
Electoral law experts had already complained about the ruling party’s misuse of state resources.
There are also around 500 observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on the ground. They will pass their judgment on the elections on Sunday.
