By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

TBILISI/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – The Georgian opposition says results showing the ruling pro-Russian party of Georgia’s most powerful man winning the parliamentary elections mounted to a “constitutional coup.”

Georgian Dream’s billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, the opposition, and foreign diplomats viewed Saturday’s vote as crucial to deciding whether Georgia would move closer to the West or back toward Moscow.

The central election commission said the Georgian Dream received 53 percent of the ballots, based on a count of more than 70 percent of the vote.

The outcome dramatically differed from exit polls conducted by Western pollsters, and the pro-Western opposition said the vote was “stolen” from the Georgian people.

“We do not accept the results of these falsified elections,” added Tina Bokuchava, head of the United National Movement. Another opposition leader, Nika Gvaramia, said Georgian Dream had mounted a “constitutional coup.”

Voters reportedly turned out in big numbers on Saturday in the strategically vital South Caucasus state bordering Russia, and there were numerous reports of vote violations and violence outside polling stations.

Footage seen by Worthy News showed opposition official Azat Karimov, 35, hospitalized with facial wounds after he was beaten up in the town of Marneuli.

MARKING SETBACK

If confirmed, however, the results would mark a setback for those Georgians hoping to foster closer ties with the European Union and the NATO military alliance amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

Georgian Dream’s billionaire founder Ivanishvili, the opposition, and foreign diplomats viewed Saturday’s vote as crucial to deciding whether Georgia would move closer to the West or back toward Moscow.

Observers saw Saturday’s vote as the most crucial since Georgians backed independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Criticized for his perceived authoritarian style, Ivanishvili has become more outspoken in anti-Western rhetoric. Critics say that his party, which ruled the nation for 12 years, is increasingly bringing Georgia into Russia’s orbit.

Although Georgia was made a candidate to join the European Union last December, the EU has since frozen the move due to “democratic backsliding,” especially a Russian-style “foreign influence” law targeting groups receiving Western funding.

The Soviet Union, or USSR, may have ceased to exist more than three decades ago, but Moscow still considers much of the old Soviet empire its backyard and Russia’s sphere of influence.
Neighboring Russia still occupies 20 percent of Georgia’s territory after a five-day war in 2008.

Georgian Dream has promised voters that it is still on course to join the EU. Yet, it has also accused the opposition of helping the West open a new front in Russia’s war in Ukraine.

To its opponents, the Georgian Dream has become a nightmare.

Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.

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