Georgia’s ruling party says opposition participation ‘irrelevant’ ahead of local elections

TBILISI, DFWatch–As Georgia prepares to hold local elections in October, the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party says it expects a decisive win regardless of whether the opposition parties participate or not.

“For the government, it doesn’t matter whether the opposition joins the elections. They have already won either way,” said analyst Edisher Gvenetadze.

GD lawmaker Irakli Kadagishvili dismissed the opposition as not having political substance. “Whether they participate or not is of no particular importance to us. Since the opposition itself is bankrupt. This is also evident from the fact that even those who say they will participate, cannot agree among themselves. That is, they do not have the resources. Then they say that we will not have our party candidates, but will elect someone else. What kind of political party are you if you do not have your own candidate and you have someone else to elect?” the lawmaker said, as quoted by Rezonansi.

There are now growing concerns over the political climate in Georgia. Several opposition leaders have recently been arrested or fined under laws that criminalize ‘insulting’ public officials. Critics argue that the government is using the laws to intimidate the opposition and create a chilling effect to stifle dissent.

Analyst Paata Zakareishvili suggested that the government’s steps indicate deep concern about the opposition participating in the election. He elaborated that by arresting activists and politicians, the government may be trying to provoke a boycott and then claim democratic legitimacy in a low-contest vote.

Georgian Dream has not invited international election monitors from OSCE/ODIHR, further fueling suspicions of a controlled electoral process. Analysts warn that while sanctions from Western governments may come post-election, for now, the ruling party’s priority is a smooth, uncontested victory.