Georgian campaigners fear a “difficult path ahead” for their country after the ruling pro-Russia party of government was elected for a fourth consecutive term.
Georgian Dream, which is chaired by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, won by 54 per cent on Sunday, contrary to the findings of independent exit polls.
This result was immediately disputed by the country’s united block of four pro-western opposition parties, who claimed the election was stolen.
President Salome Zourabichvili urged Georgians to rally on Monday night in Tbilisi against what she called a "total falsification, a stealing of your votes".
“This election cannot be recognised, because it is the recognition of Russia’s intrusion here, Georgia’s subordination to Russia,” Ms Zourabichvili said on Sunday.
There are fears that the result will draw Georgia closer into Russia's orbit. The election comes shortly after those in Moldova, where Moldovan officials accused Russian operatives of making cash payments for votes against President Maia Sandu, who had applied for Moldova to join the EU.
“Russia is trying to reel in Georgia. It all depends on how it unravels in Ukraine,” said Shota Dighmelashvili, founder of the NGO Governance Monitoring Centre and a campaigner for EU accession in Tbilisi.
The country had experienced waves of anti-government protests this year, with four in five Georgians supporting accession to the EU. Independent polls had predicted a win for the bloc of pro-western parties.
“Everybody’s surprised with the result,” Mr Dighmelashvili told The National. “The support [for GD] is more than in prior elections. It is a sign that authoritarianism is on the rise in Georgia.”
He hoped the elected members of Georgia’s pro-western opposition would boycott the new government, but thought the chances of this happening were slim. Instead, it was up to western governments to show their support.
“A lot depends on whether the international community recognises the elections as free and fair. There was a lot of discrepancy in terms of resources,” Mr Dighmelashvili said.
The opposition accuses Georgian Dream of interfering by offering cash handouts to rural voters and pressuring others to vote.
“The victory was stolen from the Georgian people … We do not accept results of these falsified elections,” said Tinatin Bokuchava, leader of the biggest opposition party, United National Movement.
This is the party’s fourth term in power, with Mr Ivanishvili’s language becoming increasingly anti-western.
After voting in the capital yesterday, he told reporters that the opposition was composed of “foreign agents, who will carry out only the orders of a foreign country”.
The protests this year were caused by the passing of a US-style foreign agents law against western-backed NGOs and media organisations.
The weeks of rallies were often met with violence by riot police.
Human rights lawyer Agit Mirzoev said that pro-democracy activists should think cautiously about the next steps. He pointed to Belarus, where anti-government protests after a disputed election in 2020 resulted in a crackdown on the opposition.
“We have a very hard path ahead,” he told The National. “We remember how it started in Belarus. We need more hard work and more resources.”
Mr Mirzoev said Georgian Dream's increasingly hostile position to the West was likely to end discussions about joining the EU. “For many years, all our conversations were about EU and Nato integration processes. This will stop them. It is a very bad symptom,” he said.
Georgia had been placed on the EU’s accession list in December last year, but this was suspended in May after the government passed its foreign agents law.
But Mr Mirzoev also blamed the opposition parties for not unifying sooner. “You cannot form a coalition at the last moment. This is also a result of their bad work,” he said.
