TBILISI, Georgia — Georgia’s opposition contested its election results Saturday, after officials said the ruling party led the crucial vote that could decide whether the country pivots to embrace the West or falls back into Russia’s orbit.

Many Georgians saw the vote as a favorable referendum on whether to join the European Union. Initial figures suggest turnout is the highest since the ruling Georgian Dream party was first elected in 2012.

Georgia’s Central Election Commission said Georgian Dream won 52.99 percent, with most votes counted. Not all ballots and votes cast by Georgians abroad have been counted, and it is unclear when a final result might be announced.

Georgian Dream was opposed by four main opposition groups, which indicated they did not accept the results. The opposition initially declared victory shortly after the polls closed at 8 p.m

If Georgian Dream’s victory is confirmed, the party will have a parliamentary majority, raising fears about the country’s bid for EU membership. The party has become increasingly authoritarian, passing laws similar to those used by Russia to restrict free speech. After such a law was passed earlier this year, Brussels suspended Georgia’s EU accession process.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of Georgian Dream, claimed victory almost immediately after the polls closed and said: “It is rare in the world for the same party to achieve such success in such a difficult situation.”

Tina Bokuchava, president of the opposition United National Movement party, accused the Central Election Commission of carrying out Ivanishvili’s “dirty order” and said he “stole the victory of the Georgian people and thereby stole the European future”.

She indicated that the opposition will not recognize the results and “will fight like never before to claim our European future”.

Georgian election observers who stationed thousands of people across the country to monitor the vote said there were several violations and the results “did not correspond to the will of the Georgian people”.

The election campaign in the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million people, which borders Russia, has been dominated by foreign policy and marked by a fierce battle for votes and allegations of a smear campaign.

Some Georgians complained of intimidation and were pressured to vote for Georgian Dream, while the opposition accused the party of waging a “hybrid war” against its citizens.

The largest opposition party, the United National Movement, said its headquarters were attacked on the day of the vote. Georgian media also reported that two people were hospitalized after being attacked outside polling stations, one in the western city of Zugdidi, the other in Marneuli, a town south of the capital, Tbilisi.

There were also reports of multiple voting irregularities.

A video shared on social media on Saturday also showed a man stuffing ballot papers into a box at a polling station in Marneuli. Georgia’s Interior Ministry said it had launched an investigation, and the Central Election Commission said a criminal case had been opened and all polling station results would be declared invalid.

THE OPPOSITION PARTY IS BANNED

Ahead of the parliamentary election, Ivanishvili — a billionaire who founded Georgian Dream and made his fortune in Russia — vowed again to ban opposition parties if his party wins.

Georgian Dream will hold opposition parties “fully accountable under the full force of the law” for “war crimes” committed against the people of Georgia, Ivanishvili said at a pro-government rally in Tbilisi on Wednesday. He did not explain what crimes he believed the opposition had committed.

Many believed the election was the most important vote since Georgia gained independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili described it as an “existential election”.

Georgians want “European integration, they want us to move forward and they want policies that will bring us a better and more stable future,” Qristine Tordia, 29, told The Associated Press shortly after the vote in Tbilisi .

About 80 percent of Georgians favor EU membership, according to polls, and the country’s constitution obliges its leaders to pursue membership of that bloc and NATO.

Brussels has indefinitely suspended Georgia’s bid to join the EU after the ruling party passed a “Russian law” to crackdown on freedom of expression in June. Many Georgians fear that the Georgian Dream is dragging the country towards authoritarianism and dashing hopes that it could join the EU.

It was the same Georgian Dream party that paved the way for the country to finally achieve candidate status at the end of 2023. But during its third term, the party made a U-turn and strengthened its position on proximity to the West.

Georgian Dream claims that EU membership is still a goal for 2030, with the slogan “Yes to the EU – but with dignity!” The opposition has repeatedly accused the party of undermining this objective.

The election “is not just about changing the government, it’s about whether Georgia survives or not because Ivanishvili’s government means Russia,” Nika Gvaramia, leader of the Coalition for Change, an opposition group, said before polls closed.

Ivanishvili voted on Saturday morning under heavy security. He did not respond when asked by the AP if he wanted to form an alliance with Russia.

He said the election was a choice between a “government that will serve you” or “electing agents of a foreign country who will only fulfill the demands of the foreign country.” Ivanishvili did not indicate which country he was referring to, but before the election he and his officials claimed that a “World War Party” was seeking to influence the EU and the US, expand the conflict in Ukraine and force Georgian Dream from power.

EU PLANS

Opposition parties ignored Zourabichvili’s request to unite into a single party, but signed her “charter” to carry out reforms required by the EU for membership.

The ruling and opposition parties have told voters they will pursue EU membership, even though the Georgian Dream laws have put that hope on hold.

At the EU summit earlier this month, EU leaders said they had “serious concerns about the course of action taken by the Georgian government”.

Georgian Dream was opposed by three coalitions: National Unity Movement, Coalition for Changes and Strong Georgia.

The Gakharia Party for Georgia, founded by former prime minister Giorgi Gakharia, said it would not enter into an alliance with anyone but would support the opposition to form a government if it won enough votes.

THE ROLE OF RUSSIA

Georgia has long been a target of Russia’s hybrid approach, a combination of soft power, disinformation and propaganda with military threats and trade embargoes, experts say.

The threat of the war in Ukraine spreading to other post-Soviet states is high, and parts of Georgia are still occupied since Russia invaded in 2008 in the name of supporting the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine accelerated the Georgian Dream’s attempts to derail Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic trajectory. As part of its pre-election campaign, the party put up banners where one side showed destroyed Ukrainian cities, with the caption “No to war!” and the cut election numbers of the opposition parties. The other side of the banner juxtaposes intact Georgian buildings with the slogan “Choose Peace”.

On Friday, the Kremlin rejected all accusations of trying to influence elections in Georgia and Moldova, where people voted in favor of pro-EU constitutional changes by narrow margins, after officials accused Russia of mounting a large-scale campaign to change the Moscow referendum. favor.

“We are not trying in any way and are not in a position to influence the electoral processes in these countries,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “We do not influence or interfere in Georgian affairs in any way… But we see absolutely unprecedented attempts at interference from the West.

“There, they are not only trying to twist Tbilisi’s arms, but are actually trying to dictate terms,” ​​Peskov added. “It is hard to imagine how the proud Georgian people can tolerate such ultimatums, which are thrown at them daily.”

Information for this article was provided by Emma Burrows and Sophiko Megrelidze of the Associated Press and Mary Ilyushina of The Washington Post.

From left, Nika Melia and Nika Gvaramia, leaders of the Coalition for Change, and Nana Malashkhia, who leads the parliamentary list of the Coalition for Change, react as they speak to journalists at the coalition’s headquarters after the polls closed in the parliamentary elections in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday. October 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Nana Malashkhia, who leads the parliamentary list of the Coalition for Change, reacts at the coalition’s headquarters after voting closed in the parliamentary elections in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

From left, Nika Melia, leader of the Coalition for Change, and Zurab Japaridze, chairman of Girchi’s More Freedom party, speak to journalists at the coalition’s headquarters after polls closed in parliamentary elections in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo /Zurab Tsertsvadze)

A supporter of the Coalition for Change holds a Georgian flag at the coalition’s headquarters after polls closed in parliamentary elections in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

From left, Nika Melia, Nika Gvaramia, leaders of the Coalition for Change and Nana Malashkhia, who leads the parliamentary list of the Coalition for Change, react as they speak to journalists at the coalition’s headquarters after the polls closed in the parliamentary elections in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Saturday, October 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

A man picks up his ballot at a polling station during parliamentary elections in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov)

A man kisses an Orthodox icon at a polling station during parliamentary elections in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov)

Georgia’s President Salome Zourabichvili takes her ballot at a polling station during parliamentary elections in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov)

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze walks after voting at a polling station during parliamentary elections in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov)