On 26 October, Georgia held its parliamentary elections. The ruling party, “Georgian Dream,” which is widely regarded for its pro-Russian orientation, secured a victory with 53.9% of the vote, as per the Central Election Commission’s data. The opposition fared notably less well, with the “Coalition for Change” at 11%, “Strong Georgia” at 8.8%, “Unity — National Movement” at 10.1%, and “Gakharia — For Georgia” at 7.7%.
The Georgian opposition quickly announced it would not accept the election results, citing widespread irregularities. Eka Gigauri, Executive Director of Transparency International Georgia, released footage allegedly showing ballot-stuffing at polling station 69 in Marneuli, located in the Kvemo Kartli region.
“Everyone saw the footage of ballots being stuffed en masse into boxes. However, there’s more to this story. This incident occurred at a large polling station in Marneuli, where ethnic Azerbaijanis, who predominantly support the opposition, cast their votes,” wrote Ukrainian historian and journalist of Georgian descent Vakhtang Kipiani. “The ballot-stuffing, captured on video, had a clear objective: to annul the results from this station, effectively discarding votes cast against the ruling authorities. That’s the reality of it.”
International observers noted that Georgia’s parliamentary elections were profoundly impacted by deep polarisation and the chilling effect of recently enacted laws on fundamental freedoms and civil society. They also reported divisive campaign rhetoric and numerous instances of voter intimidation.
“We have become witnesses and victims of Russia’s special operation”
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili condemned these elections as ‘Russian’, labelling them “a new form of hybrid warfare tested on the Georgian people.”
“This was a total falsification and confiscation of your votes. All the methods we’ve seen used in various countries were employed, along with techniques to legitimise the falsification. We have never seen anything like this. We have become witnesses and victims of a Russian special operation—a hybrid war waged against our people and our country,” the president stated, as reported by Ekho Kavkaza.
Zourabichvili insisted that recognising these elections would mean “recognising Russia’s entry here and Georgia’s subordination to Russia.”
“I did not come to this country for that. Our ancestors didn’t live for that, and we will not accept it. No one can take Georgia’s European future away,” she added.
In response, more than a dozen European and Canadian politicians, including the heads of foreign affairs committees from Germany, Lithuania, Ireland, and Ukraine, signed a joint statement declaring the elections were “neither free nor fair,” according to Politico.
European Council President Charles Michel urged Georgian authorities to investigate irregularities in the parliamentary elections and announced plans to place Georgia on the agenda for the informal European Council meeting scheduled for November 8 in Budapest.
“We reiterate the EU’s call for Georgia’s leadership to show its strong commitment to the country’s EU accession path, in line with the conclusions made by the European Commission in June and October this year,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has already announced a visit to Georgia and congratulated the “Georgian Dream” party on its “decisive victory” even before the election results were released.
Georgia’s “existential” vote
The New York Times highlights that the refusal to recognise the election results and calls for protests could lay the “foundation for a political crisis” that might further polarise the conflict between the pro-Western opposition and the ruling party.
“The current volatile situation resembles the aftermath of the previous parliamentary elections in 2020 when the opposition refused to accept the results and boycotted the new parliament for over five months. The crisis ended after negotiations, mediated by EU officials, led to an agreement that allowed for a resolution. However, the stakes are higher this time, as the ruling party has vowed to use its victory to outlaw its opponents, the United National Movement, and what it describes as satellite groups that favour the West,” the journalists note.
Ahead of the vote, analysts and experts characterised it as “existential”—a pivotal moment in Georgia’s ongoing struggle between aligning with the West and drifting back into Moscow’s orbit, representing a choice between democracy and authoritarianism.
“We are not just voting for a party; we are voting to see if we will have a well-functioning democracy in Georgia, or at least the perspective of building one,” said political analyst Nino Samkharadze from the Georgian Institute of Politics in an interview with The Washington Post.
In a comment to The Ukrainian Week, Gela Vasadze, head of regional programmes at the Georgian Centre for Strategic Analysis (GSAC), observed that these elections lack “black swans”—unexpected events—making all outcomes possible, ranging from a normal democratic transition of power to a revolutionary scenario.
“But revolution is an extreme scenario, likely only in cases of blatant fraud or if the authorities refuse to concede defeat. Between these two extremes, there are numerous possibilities,” he explains.
According to the expert, the genuine concern with these elections is that they represent a significant shift in Georgia’s foreign policy towards what he describes as the “plague-ridden barrack of the Russian world.”
“The laws passed by our parliament over the past six months, at breakneck speed, are nothing more than a legal framework for transitioning into this plague-ridden barrack. This transition is bad enough on its own, but being dragged there against your will is intolerable. So, in these elections, the fundamental question was whether we would go there willingly or stand our ground,” Gela Vasadze notes.
He adds that not everyone who voted for the Georgian Dream supports the ideology of the so-called ‘Russian world’:
“In fact, I’d argue that the vast majority actually oppose it; they’re just trying to avoid trouble with the authorities, who are also their employers, hoping they can escape the consequences. One thing is certain: those who voted for the opposition do not want to be dragged into the plague-ridden barrack. Based on our impressions, including exit polls, we believe we are the majority, despite what the Central Election Commission claims. Prove us wrong—allow an independent audit of the elections. In any other circumstances, if this weren’t about the country’s future, one might overlook the violations—these have always been there (or almost always)—but times have changed.”
Meanwhile, President Zurabishvili is urging Georgians to fight for their vote and gather at Rustaveli Square this evening:
“When it comes to the size of the protests, we’ll see, but the authorities will likely dismiss it as insufficient, no matter how many people show up,” Gela Vasadze tells The Ukrainian Week. There’s hope that this time, Georgia will finally manage to break free from Russia’s grip.
