Were Georgia's elections stolen? | The Week

Opposition parties accuse Georgia’s ruling populists of rigging the general election after winning an unprecedented fourth term in office.

The incumbent Georgian Dream party’s 54% share of the vote on Saturday came as a surprise to the pro-Western opposition coalition, not least because exit polls showed a “dramatically different result”, leaving Georgian Dream at around 40 % came, said Euro news.

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The election results and subsequent unrest “reflect a dangerous schism in Georgian society” that has been growing for some time, Robin Ashenden said in The spectator. The government appears to want to “establish ever closer ties” with its neighbor to the north, Russia. The policies of Georgian Dream, formerly a pro-Western party, have been a “slavish imitation of the very worst aspects of (Vladimir) Putin’s rule” since he took office in 2012, even as they pay lip service to pro-EU rhetoric to create a satisfy the population. especially those of the younger generations, who are “very enthusiastic about” membership of the European bloc.

The Kremlin wants to “reaffirm its stamp on former Soviet territories,” the Kremlin said Politics. The fuss over ties with Georgia’s ruling party and alleged election interference suggest that the party is prepared to “put a lot of money into vote buying and disinformation campaigns.” Despite the EU’s confidence that its “liberal, democratic agenda” will “eventually move” these countries away from Russia, Moscow’s “determination” to assert its influence is “discouraging” for the bloc.

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