Georgians were voting Sunday in a pivotal election that may close 12 years of ever-deepening authoritarian governance and determine the country’s course toward European Union membership. Sunday’s vote is being cast as one of the most important since Georgia broke away from the Soviet Union in 1991. The pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili called the vote vital, saying, “I voted for a new Georgia.”
According to opinion polls,
The current ruling party led by Georgia’s richest individual, Bidzina Ivanishvili will carry a clear majority. Opposition groups unite to possibly win, boot Georgian Dream out of power and get Georgia its European Union accession talks up and running again. Already, there is an impressive five-in-four, clear majority voting support for being part of this South Caucasus nation of hers that nearly went to full-scale war with Russia on five-day notice in August 2008.
The EU granted Georgia candidate status in December, but that process has recently been frozen over democratic backsliding concerns, especially on a contentious law that seems to mirror Russian legislation: any organization receiving 20% or more of its funding from abroad must register as a “foreign agent.”.
About 3.5 million Georgians vote today,
Until 16:00 GMT, in the key vote that will define the opposition either align itself with Europe or succumb to Russian influence. It is about national peace or war for the government.
Political confrontation has also increased with the competition from Georgian Dream of ruling the country for four continuous years. Ivanishvili had promised to legally restrict the country’s other opposing party, United National Movement, from contesting considering the experience they hold concerning previous tenure.
Opinion polls predict that Georgian Dream
Will get about one-third of the vote, though many doubt these predictions. In order to oust the ruling party, all four opposition forces must win at least 5% to be included in the parliament of 150 seats.
President Zourabichvili endorsed the opposition coalition government, saying the election is “the last chance to bury one-party rule in Georgia.” She said after voting, “some will win, but no one will lose.”
Zourabichvili has recently negotiated a charter with opposition groups that would agree to form a technocratic government if it wins, to fill the vacuum and repeal laws they see as an obstacle to EU integration and organize snap elections.
According to United National Movement leader Tina Bokuchava,
The opposition is leading in all polls, which deserve to be believed. Georgian Dream says a change of government would lead to war with Russia, a message that was particularly resonant in villages.
The campaign includes such imagery as juxtaposing devastating scenes from Ukraine with peaceful shots from Georgia, bearing the caption: “No to war! Choose peace.” GD assumes that the rise of opposition would lead to Western intervention, opening a new theater of war against Russia.
Even though public opinion seems to be decisively against the GD government, there are still pockets of the electorate that feel stability is a boon to the unknown concomitant risks associated with governance in opposition hands. “I do not like Georgian Dream, but I dislike opposition more,” wrote a resident of Kaspi before heading off to cast a vote.
International Society for Fair Elections
And Democracy called out against electoral fraud tactics used by the electoral authorities as early votes have opened today morning citing voters being intimidated; other coercive activities through a system of vote capture that GD had implemented together with related campaigns of information through proxy.
One voter reported that his job would be at stake unless he voted for the Georgian Dream. So, the air of intimidation dominated much of the campaign. But GD claims that the new electronic vote-counting systems have improved vote-counting transparency.
Critics argued that the procedures for voting
Were hurried through, raising legitimate concerns over the ballot’s secrecy. Vano Chkhikvadze of the Civil Society Foundation said government officials called him a traitor when the protests started over the “foreign influence” law and threatened to harm him and his family.
Brussels, ahead of the elections, fears that the country’s closeness to authoritarianism by Georgian Dream actions is real. The election is so controversial that the party on the other side of the political divide is less likely to concede, thereby opening the way for post-election unrest in this watershed election.
