With the opposition and international observers denouncing widespread flaws in Saturday’s Georgian parliamentary election, the divided country seems set for a period of dangerous instability and turmoil. Demonstrators were already on the streets within hours of the announcement that governing party Georgian Dream (GD) had won a clear majority (54 per cent - 91 seats in the 150-seat parliament) with many worried that the election would end the EU accession process and push Georgia closer to its old master Russia.
GD, led by oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili and in power for 12 years, turned the election into a choice for voters between war and peace, between backing the EU over Ukraine and an “equilibrium” policy aimed at not provoking Russia. Bidzina promised voters that they are still on course to join the EU, supported by 80 per cent, but has accused the opposition of helping the West to open a new front in Russia’s war.
Since coming to power, GD has put loyalists in charge of major state institutions, including the judiciary, the electoral commission and the central bank. In the face of its increasing authoritarianism, notably measures to muzzle foreign-sponsored NGOs, the EU suspended Georgia’s accession process in June.
Observers and the press report widespread ballot irregularities, including the distribution of pre-marked ballots, ballot stuffing, the forced expulsion of observers from polling stations, violations of voting secrecy, and pressure on state workers to secure their votes. Tina Bokuchava of the opposition United National Movement (UNM) insists the vote was “stolen from the Georgian people”.
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Unlike Moldova’s vote a week ago to back EU accession, Georgia’s vote is a political victory for Vladimir Putin. While GD denies being in Moscow’s pocket, and notionally opposes its occupation of 20 per cent of the country, its implicit acknowledgment of the country’s place as being within Russia’s sphere of influence chimes with Putin’s ambition of restoring a Greater Russia.