T he Georgian Dream Party won the parliamentary elections for a third time on October 31st, becoming the only political force in the history of independent Georgia which has managed to remain in power consecutively. The opposition, however, as always considered the results of the elections rigged and took to the streets.

Last year, the Georgian Parliament tried to change the electoral system to a proportional representation without an electoral threshold. In spite of this the parliament was not able to secure 75% of the votes. This created a constitutional crisis, which was resolved on March 8, 2020, when the Georgian Dream Party and opposition mediated by the US Embassy and European Union signed a joint memorandum. The result of these negotiations was the election of 120 deputies by the proportional system and 30 through a single-mandate constituency based on if they receive 50% of votes. If the threshold of 50% is not reached two candidates with more than two votes than the others will take part in the second run. The scale of the electoral threshold of the parties was also changed from 5% to 1%. No party can win the majority of seats, unless it receives at least 40% of the votes.

On October 31, the 10^th Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia under a new electoral law and according to the Central Electoral Commission, 3 mil. 526 thous. voters were registered to participate. There were 3657 polling stations throughout the country. 52 polling stations were opened abroad, including two in Afghanistan and 127 covid-polling stations for people in the quarantine-conditioned areas, self-isolation areas and in hospitals. 48 political parties and 2 blocs participated in the elections. 2222

The main struggle between the two main political forces in Georgia has been between Ivanashvili’s Georgian Dream and Sahakashvili’s United National Movement parties. On November 1, it became clear that the Georgian Dream Party won again receiving 48,23% votes, which was followed by the United National Movement with 27,16% votes. In total, 8 parties entered the parliament.

After the publication of the preliminary results, the opposition qualified it as controversial, taking its supporters to the streets. About 30 parties have participated in the protests so far, including those who passed the threshold, except for the Patriots’ Union Party, which is pro-Russian. Opposition parties resigned from their mandates.

The leader of the Agmashenebeli Strategy Party noted that up to 200 thousand votes had been rigged - this is almost 10%. He stressed that this is an unimaginable theft of votes and this has never happened in Georgia before. Transparency International also speaks about the false elections. They called these elections a step back from 2016, and 26 NGOs considered these elections to be one with the lowest level in democracy during the years of Georgian Dream government.

The largest protest against the election results took place on November 8th in front of the Central Electoral Commission. The demonstrators demanded the cancellation of the rigged elections. In turn, the chairman of the United National Movement Nika Melia demanded the resignation of the chairman of the Central Election Commission, Tamar Zhvania and holding new snap elections. They closed the entrances and exits of the CEC. The protest was dispersed by water cannons, as a result of which 27 people were injured, 19 were arrested. The next day, these protests continued in front of the government. It is noted that the residents of the regions also joined the action, who according to some sources, gathered 8-12 thousand people. In its turn, the government noted that they would go on negotiations only through the mediation of international counterparts. According to the opposition, “great rallies” are expected on November 14.

Opposition rallies have become a Georgian phenomenon, always happening after elections. Experts believe that in this way, the United National Movement tries to win seats in the second stage of the November 21 elections, so it will hold rallies until that day, after which they will come to an end.