Georgian opposition supporters gather to protest the results of the parliamentary election that showed a victory for the ruling Georgian Dream Party, outside the Parliament building in central Tbilisi, on October 28, 2024. (Photo by Giorgi Ajevanidze/AFP through Getty Images).
Georgia is undergoing a political crisis that will shape the country in years to come.
Official results show a different picture. Although exit polls predicted that the pro-European coalition would win the parliament elections on Oct. 26, the official results paint an entirely different picture.
The Central Election Commission announced in the evening of October 27 that the ruling prorussian Georgian Dream Party had won 54.08%, while a coalition consisting of four proeuropean opposition parties only won 37.58%.
International observers, opposition politicians and the president of the country all accused widespread electoral fraud.
In protest, thousands of Georgians took to the streets in downtown Tbilisi. Salome Zourabichvili, the Georgian president, was among them.
Zourabichvili had urged citizens to protest the rigged election at Freedom Square in Tbilisi, on Rustaveli Avenue, a day earlier.
“These elections cannot recognized. This is the equivalent of recognizing Georgia’s subordination to Russia. “No one can take Georgia’s European Future away,” she said.
The ruling Georgian Dream Party campaigned under the slogan “Party of Peace,” pointing out the destruction of Ukrainian cities by Russian forces invading as something they could avoid if they cosy up to Moscow.
The ruling party has also stressed that electing a pro-European opponent could lead to a war with Russia.
The Georgian Dream campaign posters emphasize this rhetoric by using slogans like: “With Georgian Dream, say no to war, yes to peace.”
Observers say that the widespread fraud, not the brutal campaigning, is what has brought the ruling party to victory.
Observers reported a wide range of violations – from the distribution and confiscation of personal ID cards to the distribution of ballots pre-filled.
“We’ve seen ballots marked in favor of ruling parties or voters receiving multiple ballots,” an attorney of We Vote, speaking from the Kyiv independent‘s headquarters on Liberty Square, told the Kyiv Indy.
The NGO also pointed to criminal groups associated with the ruling party intimidating voters and observers all day.
At a press conference following the election, Iulian Buai, a PACE representative, said that “free, fair and transparent elections were not guaranteed.”
Bulai left the room immediately after his remarks without answering any questions.
Oleksiy Honorcharenko, a Ukrainian legislator who is part of the PACE Monitoring group, told The Kyiv Independent: “It’s clear that Russia wishes to have Georgia within its orbit.”
“As usual, they use democratic procedures to make antidemocratic things. Honcharenko said, “And that’s exactly what they’re again doing here.”
“What I personally witnessed in the rural area was very, very disturbing.” It influences the results of the elections, and they cannot be called fair or free,” he said.
According to a source familiar with U.S. intelligence, Georgian Dream’s electronic system may have been compromised. “The Russians seem to have taken possession” of key servers, the unnamed source stated.
Georgia’s opposition has drawn comparisons between the current situation in Georgia and Ukraine’s ongoing conflict against Russia. “We are fighting the same enemy,” opposition activist Marika Miiashvili said. “The future of Georgia is at stake, free from Russian influences.”
Ana Minadze was an activist from the NGO Free Georgia who planned to pretest.
“Georgia will never become Russia,” she said.
Her sentiments echo those of young activists who grew up watching Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression, and who reject any rapprochement despite Georgian Dream’s messaging.
Minadze says, “Our government caters to the interests of (Russian President Vladimir Putin).” “We’ve lost 20% of our land to Russia and yet Bidzina, the oligarch leader of Georgian Dream, wants us apologize to those who invading us in 2008.” This is something I will never accept.”
Minadze is convinced that the future of Georgia lies in Europe and not in Moscow’s sphere.
“We’ve seen Europe, we’ve seen America; we know how life in the West is, and we also know what it’s like in Russia,” she said, highlighting her feelings of a divide between freedom and repression.
“We will protest because we care about education, the economy, and our everyday lives.”
Irakli Kobakhidze, the pro-Russian prime minister, said that the Georgian Parliament will approve the new government despite protests from the opposition. The standoff had begun.
Theo Prouvost, a Paris-based student of Political Science at Lille University, is currently based in Paris. In 2019, he created JTO.NEWS, a web-based media that focuses on social, environmental, and political issues. He worked previously for media that focused on international relations and migration.
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