Georgia election: Opposition calls early results 'falsified'

Georgia's opposition has disputed the results of Saturday's election after officials said the ruling party was leading with some 70% of the vote counted.

Shortly after the preliminary results were announced, Tina Bokuchava, leader of the opposition United National Movement (UNM), said the results had been "falsified" and the election "stolen."

Nika Gvaramia, the leader of the Akhali party, another pro-European opposition party, called the results a "constitutional coup."

The outcome of the vote could decide whether the country pivots towards gaining European Union membership or maintains its close ties to Russia.

Many Georgians viewed the vote as a make-or-break referendum on the opportunity to join the European Union. 

Initial figures suggest turnout is the highest since the ruling Georgian Dream party was first elected in 2012.

The preliminary results were announced before the counting of votes cast abroad, but it was not clear whether these would sway the final result.

Georgia's ruling party claimed an outright victory in Saturday's parliamentary elections after early results showed it was set to beat a union of pro-Western opposition forces.

"As the results released by [the] central election commission show, Georgian Dream has secured a solid majority" in the new parliament, the ruling party's executive secretary, Mamuka Mdinaradze, told journalists.

The election body said Georgian Dream had won 53% of votes, with more than two-thirds of ballots counted.

The party said it would secure 90 seats in the 150-seat parliament, far higher than the 76 seats required to form a government.

Georgia's electoral commission said the ruling Georgian Dream party had won nearly 53% support in the former Soviet republic's parliamentary election.

The commission gave the partial result after 69.9% of ballots were counted.

The election body said the final turnout in the election was 58.94%.

Not all paper ballots and votes cast by Georgians abroad have been counted.

Russia's RIA state news agency cited Georgian Dream as saying it would take around 90 seats in the 150-seat parliament.

The party, which favors cooperation with Russia, celebrated in the capital, Tbilisi, with fireworks shortly after polls closed at 8 p.m. local time (16:00 GMT).

Earlier, separate exit polls by broadcasters gave conflicting forecasts as to who would likely win the most seats.

The pro-EU opposition said that it had collectively won the election. The four-party alliance has promised to work together to form a coalition.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the ruling Georgian Dream party’s reclusive billionaire founder and onetime prime minister, has claimed victory in Georgia's parliamentary election.

"It is a rare case in the world that the same party achieves such success in such a difficult situation — this is a good indicator of the talent of the Georgian people," Ivanishvili said just minutes after polls closed.

"I assure you, our country will achieve great success in the next four years," he added.

His comments came as an exit poll by the pro-government Imedi TV channel projected that Georgian Dream would win 56% support.

The opposition alliance also said it was on course to win a majority, after two separate polls by broadcasters it supports issued a forecast, giving victory to the pro-EU side.

"European Georgia is winning with 52% despite attempts to rig elections and without votes from the diaspora," President Salome Zourabichvili said on X, formerly Twitter, referring to one of the exit polls.

The leader of Georgia's opposition United National Movement Tina Bokuchava told Reuters news agency that Ivanishvili’s claims of a government majority should be taken "with a large bucket of salt."

"We will await the final official tally, but the loser should have the good grace to admit defeat and bow out," she added.

Rival exit polls, published shortly after polls closed in Georgia's parliamentary elections gave sharply different projections.

One survey showed the ruling Georgian Dream party winning comfortably and one other poll showed the four-party opposition alliance clinched a majority.

An exit poll by the Georgian Dream-supporting Imedi TV channel showed the ruling party winning 56%.

Two other exit polls by pro-opposition Formula and Mtavari Arkhi channels showed major gains for pro-Western opposition
parties, who they suggested would together be able to form a majority in the 150-seat parliament.

The Mtavari Arkhi TV poll put the ruling party at 42% support, while the opposition grouping was on course for 48%.

The Formula TV survey put the ruling party at 41% of the vote, while the combined opposition was set to win with 52% support.

Georgia's Central Election Commission (CEC) said over 1.7 million people have already cast their votes in Saturday's parliamentary election.

The CEC said that by 5 p.m. local time (13:00 UTC/GMT), the turnout was 50.6%. This compares with 22% at noon.

The commission said polling would close at 8 p.m., but that any voter still queuing after that time would be allowed to cast their ballot.

Some 3.5 million Georgians are eligible to vote in the election.

Georgia's President Salome Zurabishvili denounced incidents of violence during the parliamentary election after footage circulated on social media showing confrontations at several polling stations.

"I want to highlight the deeply troubling incidents of violence unfolding at various polling stations," she said.

One video showed a fistfight between dozens of unidentified men outside a polling station in the capital, Tbilisi.

The opposition also shared videos of an alleged ballot stuffing incident in the south-eastern village of Sadakhlo, which the chair of the United National Movement opposition party, Tina Bokuchava, said was proof that "Ivanishvili's thugs are desperate to cling onto power and will resort to anything to subvert the election process."

The Central Election Commission said it had received 133 reports of violations.

In another incident reported by the Interpressnews news agency, a man threw several ballot papers into a polling station in the small southeastern town of Marneuli, disrupting voting.

The commission said the results in the polling station would not be counted.

Bokuchkova said the provocation was organized by the ruling Georgian Dream party because the opposition would have won in the constituency.

However, a representative of Georgian Dream blamed the opposition, which it said had paid the man to carry out the stunt to portray the election as illegitimate.

DW correspondent Maria Katamadze, reporting from the capital Tbilisi, caught Georgia's President Salome Zourabichvili on the street after she had cast her ballot Saturday. Asked whether she was confident that she would win, Zourabichvili said: "I'm not going to win the elections. Georgia is going to win the elections."  

Katamadze posted the exchange on X, writing: "Pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili has just casted her ballot in #Tbilisi and is confident that the opposition is going to secure a victory."

Much is at stake in the parliamentary elections in Georgia this year 

For the ruling Georgian Dream party, a fourth straight term would cement its position and allow it to make further legislative changes. It aims to obtain three-quarters of the parliamentary seats to introduce a constitutional ban on the main opposition party, the United National Movement. 

The government has passed a series of controversial bills, including a law requiring groups that receive funds from abroad to register as foreign agents. The law led to mass demonstrations by the opposition parties which believe it to be similar to ones in Russia used to curb dissent.

Hanging in the balance is also the country's EU membership. 

The EU gave Georgia membership candidate status last December but its application to join the bloc remains frozen as the country regresses on press freedom, human rights and rights of religious and sexual minorities. 

Polling stations opened to voters on Saturday in the South Caucasus country of Georgia for a parliamentary election which is widely seen as a fight between a Russia-leaning incumbent and a West-allied opposition. 

Around 3.5 million Georgians are eligible to cast ballots, as per Reuters.

Russia ruled over Georgia some two centuries ago and backs two rebel regions which broke away from the nation in the 1990s. Russia defeated Georgia in a five-day war in 2008. Many Georgians, hence, dislike Russia. 

However, the country's ruling party — Georgian Dream, which is seeking a fourth term — has changed its tune to more pro-Russian rhetoric in the past two years. It has accused the West of trying to drag Georgia into war with Russia. 

Led by billionaire former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, the party has campaigned on keeping Georgia out of Russia's war in Ukraine. Ivanishvili is the country’s richest man and widely regarded as its most powerful person.

Meanwhile opposition parties call this shift a betrayal of Georgia's European future. The four main opposition parties aim to form a coalition to oust the Georgian Dream from power and put the nation back on its track for an EU membership. 

Opinion polls ahead of the election have shown contradicting results. Media channels in support of the opposition predict the Georgian Dream will lose its majority while those who support the ruling party predict its strongest ever performance.

As for what's on the voters’ mind, polls largely show that Georgians are supportive of joining the EU and NATO but also want to avoid conflict with Russia. 

mk/wd (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)