Georgia’s ruling party wins key election as opposition parties shout rejection

TBILISI. Georgia’s most powerful man won parliamentary elections on October 26 with more than 99 percent of polling stations counted, a victory that opposition politicians refused to recognize, claiming it was “falsified.”

The result is a blow to pro-Western Georgians, who see the election as a choice between the ruling party, which has deepened ties with Russia, and the opposition, which hoped to accelerate integration with the European Union.

Georgian Dream billionaire recluse founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, who campaigned intensively to keep Georgia out of the Ukraine war, claimed victory on October 27 after his party won more than 54 percent of the vote.

“It is rare in the world for one and the same party to achieve such success in such a difficult situation. This is a good indicator of the talent of the Georgian people,” Mr. Ivanishvili told jubilant supporters.

Opposition parties contested the election results at a briefing held on the morning of October 27 and said they would not agree with them.

“This is a constitutional coup,” said Mr. Nika Gwaramiya, the leader of the opposition party “Coalition for Change”, according to the Interpress news agency.

“The Georgian people voted for the European future of this country, and therefore we will not accept these falsified results published by the CEC (Central Election Commission),” said Ms. Tina Bokuchava, leader of the opposition United National Movement.

We Vote, a Georgian coalition of election observers, said it believed the results “do not reflect the will of the citizens of Georgia,” citing numerous reports of voter intimidation and vote-buying.

“We will continue to demand the annulment of the results,” the message reads.

One local monitoring organization called for the results to be annulled based on reports of voter intimidation and vote-buying, but it did not immediately provide evidence of widespread fraud.

Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia in the 1990s, came to power in 2012 with pro-Western views and a pragmatic policy toward Russia.

He has since lashed out at the West, accusing the Global War Party of seeking to drag Georgia into war with Russia, even as he insists Georgia intends to join the European Union.