A sign for the ruling Georgian Dream party in Gori on October 24, 2024. KSENIA IVANOVA FOR LE MONDE
Described as “existential” by local politicians, Georgia’s parliamentary elections held on Saturday, October 26, promise to be decisive for the country’s future. Four pro-European opposition coalitions are pitted against the ruling Georgian Dream party, which has been criticized for its Russian overtones and brutal methods, including the recent resurgence of beatings of opponents. In all, 18 parties are in the running, but only the ruling party and the four opposition blocs stand a chance of crossing the 5% threshold and entering the 150-seat parliament in this proportional election. “These parliamentary elections are generating fear, anxiety and uncertainty, but also tremendous enthusiasm,” summed up Ghia Nodia, professor of political science at Ilia State University. Three and a half million voters are expected to cast their ballots, 800,000 of whom live abroad.
After 12 years at the helm of the country, Georgian Dream’s popularity seems to be waning. At issue are the anti-democratic measures adopted by the government, in particular the adoption this summer of a repressive law on “foreign influence,” a copy-paste of Russian legislation. This prompted the European Union to suspend the small Caucasian republic’s accession process, a few months after it obtained candidate status in December 2023. In May, when the controversial bill was passed, civil society mobilized in large-scale demonstrations across the country.
The party is run under the shadow of billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who, once nicknamed “Anaconda” by his business partners, made his fortune in Russia in the 1990s and remains marked by the training he received in Moscow in the 1980s. “Under his informal rule, the party gradually succeeded in seizing all the country’s branches of power and independent institutions,” pointed out the Georgian branch of the NGO Transparency International. Today, this strongman lives in a sumptuous estate high above the capital Tbilisi, complete with a private zoo, a huge aviary and giant baobabs imported from Africa.
‘Orgies’ in the streets
Lately, Georgian Dream’s anti-Western rhetoric has gone up a notch. On countless occasions, Ivanishvili has referred to the West as a “global war party,” where “orgies” are organized “in the streets” and whose leaders consider Georgians to be “cannon fodder.” As these verbal outrages reached their peak during the election campaign, Western embassies in Tbilisi decided to cut all ties with the ruling party, refusing all contact with its representatives.
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