both camps claim victory at the close of the vote; preliminary results released Sunday evening

Pro-Russian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili speaks from the headquarters of the ruling Georgian Dream party, which he founded, to claim victory in the parliamentary elections based on exit polls, in Tbilisi, Saturday, October 26 2024. IRAKLI GEDENIDZE / REUTERS

Georgians voted on Saturday, October 26, in legislative elections crucial for the future of their country divided between a pro-European opposition and a ruling party accused of pro-Russian authoritarian drift. The polling stations closed at 8 p.m. on site (6 p.m. in ), and the two camps, Georgian Dream, the conservative party of billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, on one side, and an unprecedented alliance of opposition groups, the other, claimed to have obtained the most votes based on exit polls.

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This is a proportional vote for the renewal of the 150 seats in Parliament, under the supervision of observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). First preliminary results must be published from 10 p.m. (8 p.m. in Paris)

“Tonight will be a victory for all of Georgia”hoped the pro-European president, Salomé Zourabichvili, breaking with the government, after slipping her ballot into the ballot box. “This day will determine the future of the country”she said.

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The Central Electoral Commission announced in the afternoon that it had received 133 complaints about violations of voting secrecy, incidents outside polling stations and obstacles to the work of observers. The association of young lawyers, which is monitoring the vote, reported “significant electoral violations”.

In a polling station in Marneouli, a town located about forty kilometers from Tbilisi, the capital, a man was filmed inserting a bundle of ballots into a ballot box. The Central Election Commission suspended voting in this office and invalidated the results.

Opponent Tina Bokoutchava accused the “thugs” of the Georgian Dream of “cling to power” and of “undermine the electoral process”comments rejected by the ruling party. “They stuff the ballot boxes, brutalize voters and beat observers”she denounced.

The distribution on the Internet of a video of a general fight in a polling station in Tbilisi also pushed Salomé Zourabichvili to ask the Minister of the Interior to act. The president published a video on her office website to denounce violence “deeply worrying”.

The World with AFP

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