On October 26, 2024, parliamentary elections were held in Georgia. Long before election day, they were called the most crucial Georgian elections since the 2003 Rose Revolution. Opposition parties presented the election as a choice between Russia and Europe, while the ruling Georgian Dream Party described it as a choice between peace and war. In both cases, geopolitics played a significant role.
The opposition accused the Georgian Dream of steering Georgia away from European integration. At the same time, the government claimed that the opposition sought to open a second front against Russia, transforming Georgia into another Ukraine. Georgian Dream even displayed posters on Tbilisi streets contrasting images of a peaceful Tbilisi with war-ravaged Ukrainian cities.
Recent actions by the Georgian government, including the passage of a law on transparency of foreign influence and an anti-LGBT propaganda law, have strained Georgia’s relations with the West. The European Union halted the accession process and canceled funding from the European Peace Facility, while the United States imposed sanctions on several Georgian officials. The opposition used these developments to allege that the ruling party sought closer ties with Russia. Meanwhile, Georgian Dream leaders attributed anti-Georgian actions to an unspecified “Global War Party.”
The elections occurred amid positive developments in the Georgian economy, which saw substantial growth in 2022, 2023, and the first half of 2024, largely driven by Russian migration and re-exports to Russia. The government cited this economic growth to justify its strategic decision not to join anti-Russian sanctions, arguing that it had ultimately raised living standards for Georgians, which, it said, was the government’s primary responsibility.
According to the Georgian Central Election Commission, Georgian Dream won the election with about 54% of the vote. Four opposition blocks won more than 5% of the vote, the threshold for achieving representation in Parliament. The Coalition for Change, composed of former leaders from the United National Movement (the former ruling party), received 11%. Unity to Save Georgia, led by the United National Movement, won about 10%. Strong Georgia, led by Lelo for Georgia, won nearly 9%, while For Georgia, led by former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, took close to 8%. The official results showed that Georgian Dream’s share was slightly lower than Gorbi exit polls commissioned by the pro-government Imedi TV. The official results contrasted sharply with exit polls from HarrisX (for the pro-opposition Mtavari Arkhi TV) and Edison Research (for opposition-leaning Formula TV), which projected the opposition as winners.
All four opposition groups that entered Parliament refused to recognize the election results. President Salome Zurabishvili, a critic of the Georgian Dream, also refused to acknowledge the results, alleging large-scale election fraud, and called for a protest rally on October 28, which brought thousands in front of the parliament building.
