The official pro-Russian party faces a fragmented opposition towards the renewal of Parliament
Juan Pablo Duch
Correspondent
La Jornada Newspaper
Friday, October 25, 2024, p. 23
Moscow. In what is defined as a head-on clash in Georgia, the former Soviet republic of the South Caucasus, the ruling Georgian Dream party and the fragmented opposition, which defend antagonistic government projects, will decide this Saturday at the polls what course the country in the coming years.
In this sense, the legislative elections, which will renew the composition of Parliament, are considered by all the parties competing for the 155 seats almost an unofficial national referendum.
This vote should put an end to the controversy surrounding Georgia’s eventual accession to the European Union (EU), in principle supported by between 70 and 80 percent of the population, according to several recent polls, while the Georgian Dream –without opposing European integration– he is inclined to slow down the process to avoid what he calls an open challenge to Moscow.
However, the laws adopted by the Georgian Dream, which contradict European legislation by hindering the functioning of opposition parties and restricting freedoms regarding sexual diversity, affected Tbilisi’s relationship with Brussels, which threatens to reverse the rapprochement by suspending the status of candidate country to enter the EU, granted in December of the previous year, and with Washington, which imposed visa restrictions on dozens of officials and representatives of the ruling party for violate democracy in Georgia.
Confrontation history
The months prior to the meeting at the polls were marked by the confrontation between the ruling majority in Parliament and the president of the country, Salomé Zurabishvili, who exercised her right to veto against these laws, a veto that was easily overcome by the deputies of the Georgian Dream and its allies, further aggravating the protests of the dissatisfied in the street.
Now, Georgians will have the opportunity to elect their representatives to Parliament through the proportional system – before it was only half and the other, through direct voting – and the political forces registered on the ballots will be able to access the Chamber of Deputies if they exceed the barrier of 5 percent of the vote.
The main opposition party, the Unified National Movement, founded by former president Mikhail Saakashvili, currently sentenced to prison for entering the country illegally hidden in a truck, formed an electoral alliance with the Agmaneshebeli Strategy and European Georgia. The three present themselves as part of the Unity – National Movement bloc.
Two other more or less large opposition groups were formed, Coalition for Changes and Strong Georgia, which are separate, as was the For Georgia party, created by former Prime Minister Giorgi Gajaria.
Founded by tycoon Bidzinia Ivanishvili, who made his fortune doing business in Russia, the ruling Georgian Dream, which has been in power for 12 years, is optimistic of obtaining a resounding victory.
Ivanishvili, who heads the list of candidates for deputy of his party, urges us to choose between the peace that the Georgian Dream claims to represent and the war, which – in his opinion – they are trying to impose on Georgia. influential foreign forcesimplying that the United States and its allies are pulling the strings of the opposition to open a second front against Russia.
Its opponents accuse the Georgian Dream of isolate internationally the country and serve the interests of Russiaand they are confident that they will not be able to reach a majority, which would require the formation of a coalition government, a scenario that would favor the fragmented opposition.
Everyone looks like a winner
In this regard, the majority of the parties that oppose the Georgian Dream signed the Georgian Charter, a commitment proposed by President Zurabishvili to annul immediately after the elections all laws that slow down the country’s integration with Europe. According to this document, the president would form the government and, once the period of reforms stipulated in the letter was over, she would convene free and fair elections in Georgia.
With the campaigns closed with massive rallies, everything is ready for the vote on Saturday, a day in which the ruling party and the opposition already see themselves as winners and which, without a doubt, will decide the future of Georgia.
