Former president Saakashvili arrested a couple days before a crucial local election

With a strong opposition showing in local election, the country could see snap parliamentary elections. The ruling Georgian Dream party and Saakashvili's United National Movement clash. The former president was arrested upon his return from exile in Ukraine.

Moscow (AsiaNews) – Municipal elections will be held today in Georgia that could see important changes take place in the country.

Depending on the outcome, the opposition could force the government led by the Georgian Dream party to hold early parliamentary election.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s various parties accuse each other of influencing election polls in their favour, undermining the country’s political stability.

Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili disdainfully commented the latest Ipsos poll, commissioned by Mtavari Arkhi TV company, which gives the Georgian Dream party 35 per cent of support versus 30 per cent for the main opposition, the United National Movement

“How is it possible, if all indicators suggest that our party has double their support?” Gharibashvili said. According to the ruling party, a poll on 23 September gave them 51.9 per cent, leaving the opposition with only 25.2 per cent. Giorgi Gakharya’s For Georgia party was third with 5 to 9 per cent.

Gharibashvili promised “absolutely peaceful, democratic and free elections for our entire society, in all its expressions. We want the country to continue its development in stability for the next three years, without the shocks, chaos and disintegration that our opponents intend to provoke.”

The prime minister condemned recent violence in Dmanisi, where a Georgian Dream official wounded two opposition supporters with a knife, claiming he had been provoked.

The most heated battleground is Tbilisi, where the office of mayor is up for grabs. In all likelihood, a second round will be necessary to decide the outcome.

United National Movement’s leader Nika Melia appealed to city and suburban voters to come out and vote. He said that if the opposition won more than 40 per cent the government would be forced to hold early parliamentary elections.

In his view, “the history of Georgia will be rewritten on 3 October. As a matter of honour, we will not leave our country in the hands of bandits and thieves.”

The ruling party’s negative campaign has focused on the National Movement and its founder, former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who was arrested yesterday after returning home from his Ukrainian exile.

The other opposition groups, like Giorgi Vashadze's Third Force, are angered by a climate of intransigent confrontation between the two main contenders, fuelled especially by the governing party.

On the eve of his return, Saakashvili said he wanted to return to Georgia "to help save the country". According to the former president, with local election this Saturday, "the fate of the nation, its very existence, will be sealed.”

In 2018, a Georgian court sentenced Saakashvili to six years in prison for abusing his office and trying to conceal evidence of the beating of an opposition member when he was president.

Gharibashvili had announced that the police would arrest Saakashvili as soon as he got off the plane. “He doesn't need 100,000 supporters, but a dozen good policemen," the prime minister said.

• georgia
• tbilisi
• elections
• parliament
• georgian dream
• national movement
• mikheil saakashvili
• arrest