Ruling party defeats pro-NATO opposition in Georgia election

The Georgian Dream party is projected to secure a comfortable win in the country’s parliamentary elections, early results have shown

Georgia’s ruling party is set to win the country’s parliamentary elections and secure a comfortable majority in the country’s legislature, early results published by the electoral committee have suggested.

According to official figures, more than 54.2% of voters have favored Georgian Dream, with 99% of ballots processed. Voter turnout was marked at 59%, significantly higher than in previous polls, held in 2020.

Georgian Dream chairman, Mamuka Mdinaradze, has claimed the party is likely to win at least 90 of the chamber’s 150 seats, up from 74 seats prior to the election. In order to pick the government and the PM, a simple 76-strong majority is needed in Georgia.

The results have already been contested by the opposition and by the country’s Western-leaning president Salome Zourabichvili, who claimed the election has been won by the European Georgia party.

“European Georgia is winning with 52% despite attempts to rig elections and without votes from the diaspora,” Zourabichvili wrote on X, formerly Twitter, praising the country for its “democracy, europeanity and maturity.”

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European Georgia ran as a member of the coalition led by the Unity-National Movement (UNM) party, which attracted around 10% of votes, according to official figures. Three other opposition forces made it past the 5% threshold: the Coalition for Changes, with some 11%, Strong Georgia, with 9%, and the For Georgia party, led by former Georgian Dream PM Giorgi Gakharia.

It was not immediately clear what exactly Zourabichvili’s claim was based on. Exit polls, however, had shown sharply contrasting results, depending on what entity had commissioned them.

The president’s claim appears to correspond with the projection published by opposition-leaning Formula TV, which gave 51.9% to the four opposition parties combined, against 40.9% for the ruling party. A similar result was given by broadcaster Mtavari Arkhi, which gave 48% to the opposition.

An exit poll commissioned by pro-government Imedi TV, however, signaled a solid victory for Georgian Dream, giving some 56% of votes to it.