Image by Arzu Geybullayeva
Georgians voted in a parliamentary election on October 26th, described as a crucial and pivotal vote in the country’s history. Initial reports show the ruling Georgian Dream Party winning with 54 percent, thus securing a parliamentary majority and reaffirming its hold on power. Rights groups have called the election “rigged” and warned that Georgia is on an increasingly authoritarian path. While the opposition and Georgia’s President have refused to accept the election results due to electoral discrepancies and accusations of fraud, officials from Georgia’s neighboring Azerbaijan rushed to congratulate the ruling government.
Azerbaijan’s support is not surprising. While Georgia’s government has been under heavy criticism since the last parliamentary vote in 2020, which was also contested, in the months leading up to the election, Azerbaijani media, officials, and even TV personalities have rallied behind the Georgian Dream party.
Meddling in the vote
Ahead of the vote, Azerbaijan pro-government news platforms were inundated with articles accusing the West of meddling in Georgia’s elections as well as interviews with pro-ruling party candidates from ethnic Azerbaijani communities living in Georgia. There were no stories about opposition candidates from the same community or violations these candidates faced on election day.
It was not just traditional news outlets that were favoring the Georgian Dream Party. Even talk shows were encouraging ethnic Azerbaijanis, living in Georgia to vote for the Georgian Dream. “Support stability, peace, war free Georgia when you go to vote. Because war-free and peaceful Georgia is important for Azerbaijan. We have our compatriots living there. If the situation there gets complicated there, it will be bad for you, and for us. Bear in mind the example of Ukraine. What is Georgia like right now? Stable and peaceful, unlike Ukraine,” said the show’s host, Hoshgadam Hidayatgizi, during the show.
Hidayatgizi’s references to Ukraine are not surprising. Prior to the election day, Georgian Dream launched a political ad campaign featuring images of war-torn Ukraine juxtaposed with peaceful images of Georgia. According to OC Media, banners and campaign videos were released in September 2024 and showed “burnt remains of the Mariupol Drama Theatre, marked with the numbers 4, 5, 9, and 25 — the electoral numbers of the opposition Coalition for Change, Unity — National Movement, Strong Georgia, and For Georgia respectively. The contrasting image of a theatre in the western Georgian town of Senaki had Georgian Dream’s electoral number, 41, and was captioned with ‘Choose peace!’”
Following the election, Azerbaijani members of the parliament who were in Georgia to observe the election blatantly encouraged ethnic Azerbaijanis to vote for the Georgian Dream party.
Azerbaijani political commentators aren’t ashamed to say that they have interfered with Georgian elections: pic.twitter.com/vV3NIS11BL
— Cavid #MakeRussiaSmallAgain (@cavidaga) October 27, 2024
Azerbaijani MP Arzu Naghiyev: pic.twitter.com/yHoF07Gzwx
— Cavid #MakeRussiaSmallAgain (@cavidaga) October 27, 2024
Similarly, one member of the Azerbaijan Parliament, Hikmet Bababoglu, speaking live on a pro-government television channel praised the election process based on his visit. “There were attempts to dramatize this election, but we did not witness any violations,” Babaoglu said in an interview. Babaoglu also criticized President Salome Zourabichvili and responses from the West, which has so far been critical of the election outcome based on reports of violations and fraud.
Georgia’s ethnic Azerbaijani community
Ethnic Azerbaijanis make up the largest minority in the country. They reside in Georgia’s southern province of Kvemo Kartli. Local activists say it is not the first time the Azerbaijani government has urged its diaspora to support the Georgian Dream Party.
In an interview with Meydan TV, Samira Ismayilova recalled how during the 2016 election, when then-26-year-old Ismayilova ran in the local election, vote rigging in favor of the ruling government ended with her losing the parliamentary election, despite evidence tilting the victory in her favor. Ismayilova told Meydan TV, how the government of Azerbaijan tried influencing votes by identifying influential people from the community with ties in Azerbaijan and using them as a means of reiterating a message of support in favor of the ruling government’s candidate.
Samira Bayramova, another ethnic Azerbaijani living in Georgia, confirmed the influence of the Azerbaijani government in an interview with Meydan TV. Bayramova explained how, since 2016, the state oil company SOCAR has been involved in interfering in the Georgian election. The civic activist said the government sent a group of Azerbaijani officials to Georgia, specifically to the region of Kvemo Kartli, who openly supported the Georgian Dream Party’s candidate and told the community members to follow suit.
Azerbaijan’s encouragement often comes in various forms. Bayramova explained in the interview how SOCAR on one hand, invests in education of local communities and on the other, is involved in buying votes among members of the community.
In 2019, Azerbaijan’s presence did not go unnoticed either, as the local residents were encouraged to vote for the Georgian Dream mayoral candidate in this year’s election as well.
Ahead of October 26 election, scores of Azerbaijani officials, including SOCAR’s vice president, vice speaker of Azerbaijani parliament, SOCAR’s Georgia country director and others were visiting Georgia, for the opening of a kindergarden. SOCAR sponsored kindergardens are common in Georgia.
Ethnic Azerbaijanis interviewed by JamNews also said they were forced to vote for candidates representing the Georgian Dream. Some were told they would lose their jobs if they did not comply.
Explaining Azerbaijan’s involvement
Azer Gasimli, an Azerbaijani politician and director of the Political Management Institute, finds Azerbaijan’s involvement in the domestic politics of Georgia as mutually beneficial. Gasimli told Meydan TV that “it is in the interest of the government of Azerbaijan that Georgia does not integrate into European institutions and becomes more authoritarian. That there are no democratic processes taking shape.” Adding, the interests of both current ruling governments overlap and align in this regard. Azerbaijan is described in a number of international human rights reports as an authoritarian state
and for years, has had one of the lowest international track records on citizens’ rights and freedoms.
Azerbaijan held its own snap parliamentary election in September 2024. Ballot stuffing and other evidence of fraud and violations were widely documented. Attempts by independent observers to have the Central Election Commission annul results at polling stations where these violations were documented proved futile.
Perhaps relying on a similar lack of oversight, one ethnic Azerbaijani representing the Georgian Dream Party, attempted to do the same on October 26. Footage of Rovshan Isgandarov aggressively stuffing a ballot box with a stack of ballots was caught on camera and made it to the news. His actions prompted the closing of the polling station and promises of an investigation into the fraud.
Whether this and reports of election violations from other polling stations in Georgia, will have an impact on the final result of the elections remains to be seen. In an interview with BBC, on October 28, Georgia’s Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze dismissed the reports as irregularities which happen everywhere while Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili denied allegations of fraud all together the same day during a press briefing.