Election results should never be a foregone conclusion, and democratic upsets are a healthy feature of the system. Nonetheless, when the incumbent pro-Russian governing party in Georgia declared itself the winner of national elections on 26 October, with some 54% of the vote, there was a massive outcry: polls had predicted a win for the opposition. This is a huge setback for the cause of democracy in the state — and the region, given that just a week earlier, a referendum on European integration in Moldova had ended with a tiny margin of victory for the pro-EU camp when a near landslide had been predicted.
The tentacles of autocracy are clearly reaching far and wide, tightening their grip upon the states surrounding Ukraine and bordering Europe — threatening both. To delve into these issues, Ilana Bet-El is joined by Salome Samadashvili, opposition Member of Parliament in Georgia, and Tinatin Japaridze, member of the Younger Generation Leaders Network (YGLN) and Eurasia Analyst at the Eurasia Group. This is a hard-hitting discussion on Georgia, the region, autocracy and democracy, covered with clarity, intellect and empathy.
This episode was recorded on 31 October 2024
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