Georgia votes in election seen as stark choice between Russia and West

26/10/2024 17:07

        Georgians voted on Saturday in a parliamentary election depicted by both sides as an existential battle that will determine whether the country integrates closely with the West or leans back towards Russia.
        
        The vote pits the ruling Georgian Dream party, in power since 2012, against four main blocs representing the pro-Western opposition. Polls opened at 0400 GMT and will close at 1600 GMT, with some 3.5 million Georgians eligible to cast ballots.
        
        Georgian Dream's reclusive billionaire founder and ex-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," Ivanishvili said as he cast his vote in Tbilisi on Saturday.