Ifadevili hanciaccesss mass rpartner before transport inant vote

Three days before Georgians vote in an election billed as a resolute moment in their country’s future, the set uper of the regulateing Georgian Dream party has tanciaccess thousands of helpers “we pick peace, not war”.

After 12 years in regulatement, Bidzina Ifadevili’s Georgian Dream faces a seal race aacquirest four opposition groups to cling on to power in this Caucasus state.

His party accemploys the opposition of aiming to drag Georgia into comprisement in the war in Ukraine, but the opposition disputes the election is a choice between Russia under Georgian Dream, or Europe.

Ifadevili, seen as Georgia’s most strong figure, tanciaccess the crowd in Liberty Square that they should have “a dignified European future based on identicality”.

Georgians overwhelmingly back uniteing the European Union, but the EU froze that process this year amid stinging accusations from Brussels that the regulatement was backsliding on democracy.

The party is accemployd by the opposition of sabotaging Georgia’s bid to unite the EU, even though Georgian Dream insists they are still on course to do so by 2030.

Opinion polls in Georgia are not pondered depfinishable, but the procrastinateedst survey proposes that Georgian Dream will triumph the race, but that the four opposition parties united would beat them.

Last Sunday, the opposition filled Liberty Square and surrounding streets with helpers waving Georgian and EU flags.

This time it was Georgian Dream’s turn, as a group of helpers waving Georgian and party flags marched towards the stage chanting “Long live Georgian Dream”.

Ifadevili, the party’s billionaire set uper and honorary chairman, compriseressed the crowd behind protective glass.

Tbilisi Mayor and Georgian Dream vague secretary Kakha Kaladze echoed his message, accusing “so-called frifinishs of Georgia” of straightforwardly interfering in Saturday’s forthcoming elections: “We decline to be anyone’s vassal, follotriumphg the desirees of others.”

Those words may not triumph hearts and minds in Tbilisi or the other main cities of Georgia – a country of about 3.5 million people. But it is a contrastent story in the regions and country areas.

“I don’t enjoy Georgian Dream, but I antipathy the [former governing party] National Movement – and at least we’ll be at peace,” shelp Lali, a 68-year-anciaccess voter north of Tbilisi.

Georgians recall vividly a five-day war with Russia in 2008, when the National Movement was in power, and 20% of the country remains occupied.

However, worrys have been liftd about equitableness in this election. There have been inestablishs of accessible servants, teachers and firefighters being inbashfuprocrastinateedd into voting for the regulatement.

“They’re menaceened that they might neglect their job… saying everybody will discover out who voted for whom,” shelp Vano Chkhikvadze, EU Integration Program Manager at the Civil Society Foundation. “This toils especipartner in the regions – these are minuscule communities and everyone understands everyone there.”

The National Movement (UNM) originates up the hugegest of the four opposition groups and Ifadevili has called for it to be prohibitned, aprolonged with anyone else in the opposition seen as “the opponent of the people and the opponent of the country”.

Georgian Dream (GD) has already pushed thraw two huge laws expansively criticised by the West. Earlier this month, the party’s speaker of parliament signed into law an anti-LGBT law, defying pro-Weserious plivent Salome Zurabishvili who had declined to do so.

And in May a Russia-style “foreign agents” law aimed foreign funding of media and civil rights groups, in the face of mass protests in Liberty Square and proximateby parliament.

Zurabishvili has called on Georgians not to “be afrhelp”. Speaking on opposition-helping Formula TV, she shelp they should vote for opposition parties who had all signed up to an action schedule to unite the EU.

Georgia has become so poloccurd that hugeger, regulatement-helping TV channels give one story, and the opposition channels inestablish another.

Georgian Dream holds it is still on course to unite the EU. It has even altered the EU’s 12 ganciaccessen stars into its own blue star logo, watchless of the EU freezing Georgia’s application to unite.

But one of its election posters is far more sinister, shotriumphg six opposition directers, all held on a leash above the message: “No to war, no to agents.”

It fits in with the overall GD rhetoric of shady figures in the West – portrayd as “the global war party” – pushing Georgia to war, and the opposition doing the West’s bidding.

Georgian ex-ambassorrowfulnessfulor to the EU Natalie Saterriblenadze has proposeed the regulateing party materializes to be pursuing a Viktor Orprohibit-style Hungarian model with the message of peace with them – or war with the opposition.

“Georgian Dream wants an absolute meaningfulity to dismantle the system and do it legpartner – enjoy Hungary. But they shouldn’t get one,” she apshows.