10/26/2024October 26, 2024
What you need to know about Georgia’s parliamentary election
Polling stations opened to voters on Saturday in the South Caucasus country of for a parliamentary election which is widely seen as
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 .
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 .
Opinion polls ahead of the election have showed 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 and but also want to avoid conflict with Russia.
mk/wd (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)
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