Georgia’s ruling pro-Russia party retains power in blow to EU aspirations
www.theguardian.com
OSCE observers say election bore evidence of ‘democratic backsliding’ with reports of intimidation and coercion

Opposition accuses Georgian Dream party of ‘constitutional coup’ after securing 54% of the vote with 99% of precincts counted

Georgia’s ruling party has won the parliamentary election, the electoral commission said early on Sunday, in a blow for the country’s long-held aspiration for EU membership.

Georgia’s opposition did not admit defeat, accusing the ruling party of a “constitutional coup” and promising to announce protests, setting the stage for a potential political crisis that could further polarise the Caucasus country.

The commission said that the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party had won 54% of the vote, with more than 99% of precincts counted.

The result for GD would thwart the opposition’s hopes for a pro-western coalition of four blocs and effectively stall the country’s aspirations for EU integration.

Voters in the country of almost 4 million people on Saturday headed to the polls in a watershed election to decide whether the increasingly authoritarian GD party, which has been in power since 2012 and steered the country into a conservative course away from the west and closer to Russia, secures another four-year term.