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The article fails to mention that the Georgia government in control is already very pro-Russian.

These are only local elections, not national elections. The national elections were held last year. In those elections, the pro-Russian party won 54% of the vote.

Nearly 80% of the vote practically screams “election fraud”.

Here is a quote from The Moscow Times:

“The normally low-key local elections have acquired high stakes after months of raids on independent media, restrictions on civil society and the jailing of dozens of opponents and activists.”

I am not a big fan of Amnesty International, here is what they say from the same Moscow Times article:

Amnesty International said the elections were “taking place amid severe political reprisals against opposition figures and civil society.”

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/10/05/georgia-ruling-party-wins-local-polls-as-mass-protests-flare-a90721

The pro-Russian party, Georgia Dream, has been in power since 2012. Russia invaded Georgia in 2008, and still occupies about 20% of the country, according to this article:

https://www.gzeromedia.com/russia-invaded-georgia-too-and-it-never-left

marktwain: "These are only local elections, not national elections.
The national elections were held last year.
In those elections, the pro-Russian party won 54% of the vote.
Nearly 80% of the vote practically screams “election fraud”."

Exactly, but even the ruling Georgia Dream party's 54% win in October 2024 is highly suspect because:

Pre-election polls showed Georgia Dream with barely 35% of the vote and opposition parties with over 50%.
Those same poll numbers hold today (October 2025), with opposition parties totaling to 54% support, vs. Georgia Dream at just 36%.
Before Georgia's October 2024 elections, the ruling Georgia Dream party passed a Foreign Agents Law (not to be compared to the U.S. 1938 Foreign Agents Registration Act, FARA), raided independent media, and jailed dozens of activists.
After Georgia's October 2024 elections there were many charges of ballot stuffing, vote buying, voter intimidation, and media suppression.

In the most recent October 2025 local elections (claimed at 80% for Georgia Dream), things were worse:

Most mainstream opposition parties boycotted the vote, citing repression, arrests, and media crackdowns.
Many races were uncontested and international observers were excluded in many places.
The EU and Western groups condemned the 2025 local elections for raids on independent media, jailing of activists, and changes to the election laws that favored the ruling Georgia Dream party.

Bottom lines:

The ruling Georgia Dream party was first elected in 2012 by promising all good for Georgia, including EU membership and friendly relations with Russia -- what's not to like?
Since 2012, polls consistently showed 80% of Georgians favor EU membership -- the same 80% Georgia Dream now claims supports its anti-EU, pro-Russia stances.
However, as early as 2019, Georgia Dream began to backslide and foot-drag on EU membership.
After Putin's 2022 invasions of Ukraine, Georgia Dream flipped from pro-EU to pro-Putin and anti-EU.

If you remember, this is very similar to Ukraine's Pres. Viktor Yanukovych, elected in 2010 on similar promises, but flipped by Putin in 2013 (for $3 billion), resulting in the EuroMaidan protests and Putin's 2014 invasions of Crimean and the Donbas.

As of today, Russian forces occupy around 19% of Ukraine and 20% of Georgia.

Point is: we've seen this playbook before, and it may not end well for Georgia.