Georgia ruling party wins legislative elections

Moscow. The ruling Georgian Dream party, in power for twelve years, won the legislative elections this Saturday in Georgia, according to preliminary data from the highest authority on electoral matters in that former Soviet republic of the South Caucasus.

With 70.9 percent of the ballots counted and a participation of 58.96 percent of the registry, the Georgian Dream obtained 52.99 percent of the votes cast against the four main opposition groups that, together, add up to 38.27 percent.

According to these results, announced by Georgi Kalandarishvili, president of the Central Electoral Commission, the 150 deputies of the unicameral Legislature of Georgia would be distributed as follows: Georgian Dream, 88 seats compared to the 62 that the opposition would have (Coalition for Change, 19; Unity – National Movement, 16; Georgia Strong, 14; The remaining thirteen parties registered on the ballots could not exceed 5 percent of the vote that gives access to Parliament.

No one was surprised that the Georgian Dream, making use of all the resources of the State in the face of a fragmented opposition harassed by restrictive laws, obtained the largest number of votes, but until it was made official 70 percent of the results were not clear. whether they would be enough to remain in power. To form a government, 76 deputies are needed and so far there are 12 more than the minimum required.

Some analysts believe that the fear of a war with Russia, which raised the Georgian Dream as the axis of its campaign, prevailed over the desire to integrate into the European Union as soon as possible, a priority shared by the opposition parties.

The latter, by adding the dispersed votes they received, hoped to be in a position to form a coalition government around the Charter for Georgia, designed by President Salome Zurabishvili, promoter of accession to the European Union, supported by between 70 and 80 percent of the population, according to all surveys in recent months.

Although the opposition tries to discredit the Georgian Dream by classifying it as a pro-Russian party, the truth is that it does not oppose accession to the European Union, but rather proposes slowing it down so, as it says, “not to become a second front against Moscow”, an aspiration that, in his opinion, they seek the “foreign forces that pull the strings of the opposition” and that would lead to “a war with Russia.”

However, the gestures of rapprochement towards Moscow that Tbilisi has made – such as avoiding openly positioning itself against Russia in its war with Ukraine and approving laws that do not correspond to European legislation – do not please Brussels and caused it to suspend the status it had granted. Georgia as a candidate country for entry into the European Union and withheld a credit of 121 million euros, while the United States denied visas to dozens of Georgian officials and deputies.

Curiously, the data from the exit polls, offered by the government and its adversaries, did not coincide at all, with both camps of contenders claiming victory to the detriment of the true winner.

Thus, the public television channel Imedi, close to the government, broadcast the following exit poll data: Georgian Dream, 56.1 percent; Opponents: Coalition for Change, 12.6 percent, Unity – National Movement, 11.6 percent, Strong Georgia, 7 percent.

In contrast, the television channel Formula, identified with the opposition, assures that its exit polls showed different results. Specifically, the Georgian Dream scored 40.9 percent; and its rivals: Coalition for Change, 16.7 percent, Unity – National Movement, 16.7 percent, Strong Georgia, 10.3 percent and Gajaria for Georgia, 8.2 percent, which together would give 51.9 percent, 11 percentage points more than the officials.

Around one in the morning (Tbilisi time) the main opposition leaders, Nika Gvaramia, of the Coalition for Change, and Tina Bokuchava, of Unity – National Movement, did not recognize the results and denounced that there was “theft” and “constitutional coup d’état.”

The Central Electoral Commission will announce the remaining 30 percent of the vote this Sunday, which – unless something extraordinary happens – will ratify the triumph of the Georgian Dream.