After the disputed parliamentary elections, a political crisis began in Georgia

Georgia was plunged into political turmoil on Sunday after the ruling party claimed victory in parliamentary elections that the opposition called “rigged”.

The European Union warned that Saturday’s vote, seen as a crucial test of democracy in the Caucasian country, would determine TbilisiChances of joining a block.

The result sets the stage for a political showdown that analysts warn could undermine Georgia’s European aspirations.

According to the head of the Central Election Commission, Giorgi Kalandarishvili, official counts in more than 99 percent of the polling stations showed that the ruling Georgian Dream party won 54.08 percent of the votes, while the four pro-Western opposition alliances won 37.58 percent.

“The elections were held in a calm and free environment,” he added.

The result gives Georgian Dream 91 seats in the 150-member parliament — enough to govern but short of the supermajority it sought to pass a constitutional ban on all main opposition parties.

“Our victory is impressive,” Prime Minister Irakliy Kobakhidze said in a statement, accusing the opposition of “undermining the country’s constitutional order.”

An exit poll conducted by the American sociological company Edison Research predicted the opposite result.

Opposition parties reported cases of ballots being thrown and intimidation during voting and called the results “falsifications”.

Tina Bokuchava, leader of the opposition United National Movement (ONR) party, which campaigned on a pro-European platform, said the results were “falsified” and the election “stolen”.

“This is an attempt to steal the future of Georgia,” she said, adding that UNM disagreed with the results.

Nika Gwaramiya, leader of the liberal Akhali party, called the way the vote was conducted a “constitutional coup” by the government.

“Georgian dream” will not stay in power,” he said.

A pro-Western president Salome Zurabishvili said there had been “deeply disturbing incidents of violence” at some polling stations.

“Kremlin Plan”

Analyst Gela Vasadze of the Center for Strategic Analysis of Georgia said the Caucasian country was plunged “into political instability for an indefinite period” and that its hopes for the EU had “diminished”.

“The situation is revolutionary, but the opposition ranks lack charismatic leaders who could channel popular anger into a wave of protest capable of bringing about political change.”

Earlier this year, Georgia was gripped by mass demonstrations against what the opposition saw as attempts by the government to curtail democratic freedoms and steer the country of four million from a pro-Western course. Russiaorbit.

An election observer at a polling station in the southeastern Georgian village of Sadakhlo told AFP he “witnessed massive ballot picking” and suggested “coordinated multiple voting in favor of the Georgian Dream”.

The Akhali Party said the election was rigged even before election day, citing alleged tampering with electronic voting machines that enabled multiple voting.

Prominent investigative journalist Kristo Grozev said on X: “It appears that the Kremlin’s plan to grossly rig the election is working,” adding that there was “evidence obtained by European intelligence that Russian intelligence services had a Georgian central election agency.”

Accession to the EU is suspended

Having been in power since 2012, Georgian Dream initially pursued a liberal pro-Western policy. But in the past two years, he has changed course.

His campaign centered on a conspiracy theory about a “global war party” that controls Western institutions and seeks to drag Georgia into the Russian-Ukrainian war.

In a country devastated by Russia’s 2008 invasion, the party offered voters scare stories about the imminent threat of war that only the “Georgian Dream” could avert.

The controversial Georgian Dream “foreign influence” law, which target civil society sparked weeks of street protests and was criticized as a Kremlin-style move to silence dissent.

This move forced Brussels to freeze Georgia’s EU accession process, and Washington imposed sanctions on dozens of Georgian officials.

The ruling party also launched a campaign against sexual minorities. He passed measures banning “LGBTQ propaganda,” voiding same-sex marriages performed abroad, and banning gender reassignment.

Observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) are set to hold a press conference later Sunday afternoon to present their preliminary findings.

(AFP)