Voting is under way in Georgia’s parliamentary election that could shape the future of the country’s young democracy and its European ambitions.
Saturday’s vote will see an unprecedented alliance of pro-Western opposition parties challenging the governing Georgian Dream party, which has faced criticism for stifling democracy and drifting towards Russia.
The European Union has warned that the election will determine the country’s chances of joining the 27-nation bloc. Polls suggest most Georgians favour joining the EU, but accession talks were frozen after Georgian Dream passed a law cracking down on freedom of speech in June.
Polls opened at 8am (04:00 GMT) and are set to close 12 hours later, with some 3.5 million Georgians eligible to cast ballots.
Opinion polls indicate opposition parties could get enough votes to form a coalition to supplant Georgian Dream, controlled by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who set up the party and made his fortune in Russia.
“Tonight, there will be victory for all of Georgia,” said pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili, who is at loggerheads with the governing party, after casting her ballot.
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Georgian Dream’s reclusive founder and former prime minister, Bidzina Ivanishvili, said the election was “a very simple choice”.
“Either we elect a government that serves you, the Georgian people … or we elect an agent of a foreign country that will only fulfil the tasks of a foreign country,” he said as he cast his vote in the capital, Tbilisi, on Saturday.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said he was confident Georgian Dream would win a commanding majority in the 150-seat parliament and called for “maximum mobilisation” of supporters.
Central Election Commission spokeswoman, Natia Ioseliani, said turnout was 9 percent by 10am (06:00 GMT), two hours after voting began.
Georgians will elect 150 lawmakers from 18 parties. If no party wins the 76 seats required to form a government for a four-year term, the president will invite the largest party to form a coalition.
Reported by Aljazeera
