Georgia votes in key test for democracy, EU ambitions

Georgians voted on Saturday in elections that will determine the fledgling democracy’s European aspirations, amid growing concerns over the ruling party’s pro-Russian drift.

The parliamentary election pits an unprecedented union of pro-Western opposition forces against the ruling Georgian Dream accused of stifling democracy and turning towards Russia.

Brussels has warned that the vote will determine European Union-candidate Tbilisi’s chances of joining the bloc.

Opinion polls in the country of four million indicate opposition parties could get enough votes to form a coalition to supplant Georgian Dream, controlled by powerful billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili said the vote would “determine Georgia’s future”, while the chair of the United National Movement opposition party, Tina Bokuchava, promised a “great day of national victory”.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said he was confident Georgian Dream would win a commanding majority in the 150-seat parliament, calling for “maximum mobilisation” of supporters.

Central Election Commission spokeswoman, Natia Ioseliani, said turnout was 22 percent by noon (0800 GMT), four hours after voting began.

‘Georgia belongs in Europe’

At a polling station in central Tbilisi, 48-year-old musician Giorgi Kipshidze told AFP: “I voted for the opposition, and I am sure they are going to win today.”

“Most Georgians have realised that the current government is dragging us back towards the Russian swamp and away from Europe, where Georgia truly belongs.”

Analyst Gela Vasadze at Georgia’s Strategic Analysis Centre warned that “if the ruling party attempts to stay in power regardless of the election outcome, then there is the risk of post-electoral turmoil.”

Georgian Dream says it wants to win a supermajority which will allow it to pass a constitutional ban on all major opposition parties.

In power since 2012, the party initially pursued a liberal pro-Western policy agenda. But over the last two years the party has reversed course.

Its campaign has 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 still 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.

In a recent TV interview, Ivanishvili painted a grotesque image of the West where “orgies are taking place right in the streets”.

‘Crucial test for democracy’

Georgian Dream’s adoption of a controversial “foreign influence” law this spring targeting civil society sparked weeks of mass 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, following the recent adoption of measures that ban LGBTQ “propaganda”, nullify same-sex marriages conducted abroad, and outlaw gender reassignment.

The Kremlin on Friday blasted “unprecedented attempts at Western interference” in the vote.

The latest polls show that the opposition is poised to garner enough ballots to take power.

The potential coalition grouping includes Georgia’s main opposition force, jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement (UNM) and Akhali, a recently formed party headed by former UNM leaders.

Along with several smaller parties, they have signed up to a pro-European policy platform outlining far-reaching electoral, judicial and law enforcement reforms.

They have agreed to form an interim multi-party government to push through the reforms — if they command enough seats in parliament — before calling fresh elections.

A poll conducted by US pollster Edison Research shortly before the elections showed 34 percent of voters would back Georgian Dream, while the four opposition alliances combined are set to garner 53 percent of the vote.

Voting ends at 1600 GMT with exit polls set to be released soon afterwards.