Georgians at the polls for the presidential election, a test for the ruling party

Tbilisi (AFP) – Georgians began to vote on Sunday to elect their president, for the last time by universal suffrage, in a ballot counting as a test for the ruling party, which is becoming increasingly unpopular.

The main favorites of this extremely tight election are a former French ambbadador and former Foreign Minister Salome Zourabishvili, supported by the governing party of the Georgian Dream, and opposition leader Grigol Vachadze, who was himself also head of diplomacy.

According to the latest polls, both have almost equal chances of gaining access to this post, which has become essentially symbolic in the wake of recent constitutional changes.

On the merits, Ms. Zourabichvili and Mr. Vachadze agree on several points: both argue for a rapprochement with the European Union and NATO, which Georgia has unsuccessfully asked to join for more than ten years.

Grigol Vachadze, supported by the United National Movement founded by ex-President Mikhail Saakashvili – now in exile – and by ten other political parties, blames the ruling party for failing to reduce poverty in the country. country of 4.5 million inhabitants.

If elected, he intends to hold early parliamentary elections as called for by the opposition parties.

The inauguration of the new President of the Republic will mark the entry into force of a new Constitution, in which the role of the President becomes essentially protocolary. From 2024, the President of the Republic will be elected by an electoral college of 300 members.

Adopted in September 2017, the constitutional reform was denounced by the opposition, which accused it of being cut to serve the Georgian dream.

The incumbent president, Guiorgui Margvelashvili, elected with the support of the Georgian Dream, has also refused to run for the reform because he does not want to play a secondary role in politics.

More than 3.5 million people are going to the polls for this election, followed by international observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Open at 0400 GMT, the polls will close at 16H00 GMT, the first results are expected in the night from Sunday to Monday.