Georgia goes to the polls amid violence, vote-buying and ballot-stuffing claims as shadowy Putin-loving oligarch known as The Python vows to ban opposition parties if he wins

Pro-Russian thugs are today attempting to ‘steal’ the Western ally of Georgia for Vladimir Putin in a sinister warning to Ukraine.

Government supporters were seen stuffing ballots, beating up election monitors and buying votes as the Black Sea nation goes to the polls.

The ruling Georgian Dream party, under a shadowy oligarch founder known as ‘The Python’, switched to openly support Moscow following Putin’s 2022 invasion despite the country being the most pro-Western in the region.

It is forecast to get just 35 per cent of the vote – far short of the 50 per cent needed to rule – after threatening to ban the opposition and betraying the people who have shed more blood than any other nation fighting for Ukraine.

But within hours of polling opening violence erupted at vote counts with election monitors beaten up by gangs of thugs.

Opposition parties hope to oust Georgian Dream, which they believe has been cosying up to Putin (pictured) and bringing in authoritarian legislation mimicking Russia’s

Georgian police disperse demonstrators with water cannons during a protest against a draft bill on ‘foreign agents’ near Georgian Parliament building in Tbilisi, April 30

An opposition party supporter clashes with riot police during a protest against a draft bill on ‘foreign agents’ near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, May 1

Georgian Dream members have confidently predicted they will get 60 per cent of the vote and will ban the opposition if they win.

It is seen as part of a sinister plot to return the country to Moscow’s orbit by the party’s billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili who made his fortune in Russia before returning to his birthplace.

He earned the nickname ‘Udav’, meaning ‘python’ in Russian, among the original oligarchs for his penchant for suffocating rival businesses. Now it is feared he has done the same to Georgia.

Tina Bokuchava, who leads opposition party United National Movement, said: ‘Democracy is under attack in Georgia.

‘Bidzina Ivanishvili’s thugs are desperate to cling onto power and will resort to anything to subvert the election process.

‘They are stuffing ballot boxes, bullying voters and beating observers. These are not the actions of a government who believe in free and fair elections.’

‘This reeks of desperation’ – concurs Zurab Tchiaberashvili, former Tbilisi Mayor and now UNM’s international secretary – ‘Georgians are fed up with 12 years of division; they want unity and that’s why we see high turnout. We are hopeful that pro-EU electorate will prevail’.Georgia was the first former Soviet state to push for Western integration and was once viewed as a ‘beacon of democracy’ in the region.

For it to fall once more under Moscow’s boot would send a chilling message to Ukraine and other neighbouring countries that they cannot escape such a fate.

Pro-Western Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili dubbed it an ‘existential election’ for her people.

‘I am confident that this day will determine Georgia’s future, the future for which I personally returned to this country 22 years ago,’ she said as she cast her ballot.

Bidzina Ivanishvili (C) casts his ballot at a polling station in Tbilisi, Georgia, 26 October 2024

Ivanishvili lives in a £40million steel and glass edifice overlooking the capital Tbilisi, which sparked comparisons with a Bond villain’s lair due to its huge size, futuristic design, helipad and glass tank filled with sharks that lines one wall of his study

Mamuka Khazaradze, leader of the opposition party casts his vote at a polling station today

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili reacts after casting her ballot in the country’s parliamentary elections at a polling station in Tbilisi on October 26, 2024

Opinion polls paint dramatically different pictures: some suggest a coalition of four opposition parties could clinch victory with around 55 per cent of the vote, while most government-commissioned polls predict a staggering 60 per cent in favor of Georgian Dream—a number that only the party’s most loyal supporters seem to believe. 

One such supporter, Ghia Abashidze, a political analyst known for his openly pro-government stance, told the Mail, ‘The Georgian Dream will secure around 60% of the vote, and those in the West who unfairly criticize the legitimate government of this country will have to relent, respect the will of the majority in Georgian society, and restart relations with official Tbilisi.’

The opposition bloc includes Georgia’s main opposition force—the United National Movement (UNM) of jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili—and Akhali, a newly formed party led by former justice minister Nika Gvaramia and former UNM chair Nika Melia.

 Two other major players, ‘Lelo’ and ‘For Georgia,’ are headed by financier Mamuka Khazaradze and Giorgi Gakharia, the ex-Georgian Dream prime minister who has since turned into a fierce rival of Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Both Akhali founders were arrested under Georgian Dream’s rule, triggering political unrest – and ultimately leading to pardons under Western pressure.

They have also agreed to form an interim multi-party government to advance the reforms – if they command enough seats in parliament – before calling fresh elections.

But there was clear evidence of a shameless attempt to rig proceedings today. Footage showed coaches full of villagers being handed money to vote and brawls breaking out with election monitors left bloodied.

Video circulated of an opposition election observer being savagely beaten at a polling station in Marneuli. The victim is currently in hospital.

In another clip a Georgian Dream representative Rovshan Iskandarov was seen apparently forcing dozens of voting slips into a ballot box.

Georgians reported finding their slips had been tampered with. One showed that a mark had been placed beside one party, meaning the vote would be invalidated if they ticked a separate box.

Police intervene as demonstrators protest the bill in Tbilisi, Georgia on May 14

Zurab Japaridze, co-founder and chair of the Libertarian party, holds his ballot at a polling station during the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze votes in the country’s parliamentary elections at a polling station in Tbilisi on October 26, 2024

Others posted videos of multiple slips put inside one postal vote envelope while foreign journalists who have been critical of the regime have been barred entry to Georgia.

Former Georgian presidential advisor Will Cathcart took aim at Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, seen as Ivanishvilis’ puppet.

He told the Daily Mail: ‘The ruling party has put Georgia on a path to Belarus 2.0.

‘So far we have beatings, more beatings, ballot stuffing, and local officials threatened by our foppish, dead-eyed PM.

‘But the opposition is still ahead, and the Georgian people are not afraid. The ruling party reeks so much of desperation.

David Bragvadze, former director of the analytic department at National Security Council, also hit out. He told the Mail: ‘We are watching traitor scum try to steal our country for Putin. But we will fight.

‘We wont let Ivanishvili continue running Putin’s errands and turn this country into Russia’s backyard.’

In a shameful display of political cynicism, Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri announced this week that new water cannons and lethal weapons have been acquired for the country’s riot police—seemingly in anticipation of potential unrest if his party claims victory

‘The lead-up to these elections has been steeped in fear and intimidation,’ Georgian journalist Vazha Tavberidze, writing for RFE/RL, told the Mail. ‘It’s that eerie calm before the storm—something deeply sinister. 

‘There’s little doubt that if they scrape through this election, they’ll double down, pushing harder to fulfill their threats: banning the opposition, wielding the ‘foreign agent’ law to beat independent media and NGOs into submission or drive them out altogether.’

A Georgian woman casts her ballot during parliamentary elections, at a polling station in Tbilisi, Georgia, 26 October 2024

Police officers block a street during a protest against the ‘foreign agents’ draft bill, in downtown Tbilisi on May 28

The run-up to the crucial vote has been marred by intimidation and harsh crackdowns on dissent in a summer of political violence.

Georgian Dream was founded in 2012 by Ivanishvili to oust the previous pro-Western government which was becoming increasingly authoritarian and has ruled ever since.

While trade with Russia has increased over time, it stayed ostensibly pro-Western writing the desire to join NATO and the EU into its constitution.

It had to do so to maintain grip in the fiercely anti-Moscow country which harbours painful memories from Putin’s 2008 invasion.

But after Russia invaded Ukraine it has pumped out pro-Putin propaganda and anti-Western rhetoric, refusing to sanction Russia.

The party claims it is simply ‘pro peace’ and accuses foreign powers of trying to force Georgia open a second front in the Ukraine war in Georgia.

To undermine support for change, Georgian Dream’s campaign has centred on a conspiracy theory about a ‘global war party’ that controls Western institutions and is seeking to drag Georgia into the Russia-Ukraine war.

In a country still scarred by Russia’s 2008 invasion, the party has offered voters bogeyman stories about an imminent threat of war, which only Georgian Dream could prevent.

Billboards have been erected by the party across Georgia showing harrowing scenes from bombed-out Ukrainian cities – and suggesting siding with the West could invite a new conflict with neighbouring Russia.

Many have seen through it. Georgian Dream’s passage of a controversial ‘foreign influence’ law this spring, targeting civil society, sparked weeks of mass street protests and was criticised as a Kremlin-style measure to silence dissent.

The move prompted Brussels to freeze Georgia’s EU accession process, while Washington imposed sanctions on dozens of Georgian officials.

For Russia’s part, the Kremlin has blasted ‘unprecedented attempts at Western interference’ in the vote, accusing it of ‘trying to twist Tbilisi’s hand’ and ‘dictate terms’.

Georgia notably did not support the West’s sanctions on Moscow for the war in Ukraine, and Ivanishvili has evaded publicly condemning the invasion.

But with 80 per cent of the population supporting EU membership, the government has had to be careful not to antagonize Brussels while deepening relations with Moscow.

Nika Melia, a leader of the Coalition for Change, speaks to the media at a polling station during parliamentary elections in Tbilisi, Georgia October 26, 2024

From left: Georgian national, EU and Ukrainian national flags hangs at a polling station during the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024

Georgian people cast their ballots during parliamentary elections, at a polling station in Tbilisi, Georgia, 26 October 2024

A Georgian woman casts her ballot in Tbilisi, Georgia, 26 October 2024

Still, that did not stop Ivanishvili from painting a grotesque image of the West where ‘orgies are taking place right in the streets’ in a recent TV interview.

The West meanwhile will be looking for signs of Russian interference in today’s election on the back of Moldova’s vote on amends to its constitution and commitment to joining the EU – which ultimately passed with 50.46% support.

Nestled between the Caucasus Mountains and the Black Sea, Georgia was once considered a rare example of a democracy among ex-Soviet nations. But elections in the country regularly spark mass protests.

Voting will close at 4pm GMT today, with exit polls set to be released on closing. In a matter of hours, Georgia will have a verdict on its future, and take its first steps on a new path – for better or for worse.