GEORGIA: Municipal Elections Results & more – 9th Oct 2025

Gamarjobat from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 9th of October twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Georgia.

On Saturday, the 4th, Georgia held the municipal elections. However, two out of four major opposition parties boycotted them. They had received most of the opposition votes last year. Opposition voters, especially in Tbilisi, were also divided on whether to participate in elections that many considered illegitimate. Opposition parties Coalition Strong Georgia or Dzlieri-Lelo and Gakharia for Georgia or Sakartvelostvis couldn’t get most opposition voters to show up, and the Georgian Dream or the Kotsebi received a sweeping victory in all sixty-four municipalities.

Kakha Kaladze won over seventy percent of the votes and became Mayor of Tbilisi for the third time. Meanwhile, Irakli Kupradze, the joint candidate of Dzlieri-Lelo and Sakartvelostvis, managed to get only twelve percent of the votes. The results were even more one-sided in other municipalities, with the Kotsebi getting over eighty percent of the votes across Georgia

On the same day, a small group of opposition politicians, mainly consisting of the United National Movement or Natsebi, led by Paata Burchuladze, a world-famous opera singer, organized a rally in front of the Presidential Palace, where they made an official declaration stating that the government was illegitimate and that power should be transferred back to the people. Burchuladze read the declaration, calling for the arrest of the Kotsebi leadership, including Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the party.

What followed was an attempt to breach the Presidential Palace. Its gates were broken down, but special forces came out of the building, and after physical clashes between the two sides, the crowd was dispersed. Burchuladze and four people from the organizational committee of the rally were arrested and charged with attempting to overthrow the constitutional order.

The attempted storming of the presidential palace quickly overshadowed the election results. Salome Zurabishvili, Georgia’s fifth president, quickly distanced herself from the incident, writing on Twitter that it was a provocation by the ruling party and a complete farce. She said the goal was to discredit the peaceful protesters who have been demonstrating for more than 300 days. Zurabishvili also urged people to keep protesting peacefully, saying that showing up now is more important than ever, as the ruling party will likely use the situation to justify new repressions and a wider crackdown on critical voices.

On Monday, the 6th, Gogi Gakharia and Mamuka Khazaradze, the leader of Dzlieri-Lelo, each made separate statements on the municipal elections. Both said that the decision by other opposition parties to boycott the elections was a huge mistake that only strengthened the Kotsebi. Gakharia said the success of the boycott campaign was a defeat for Georgia and should be seen as both a mistake and a crime. Khazaradze made a similar point, admitting they failed to convince enough people to vote but adding that their fight against the Russian regime continues.

In related news. On Sunday, the 5th, Kaiya Kalas, the EU’s High Representative and Vice-President, together with Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kosi, issued a joint statement on Georgia’s local elections. They say the vote took place in an environment where critical voices faced widespread suppression.mmmmmmm ,

They point to months of attacks on independent media, laws targeting civil society, arrests of opponents and activists, and changes to the election code favoring the ruling party, all of which sharply reduced the possibility of competitive elections. Since many opposition parties boycotted, voter turnout was low.

The EU also says the government’s refusal to invite international observers on time hurt transparency.

On Sunday, the 5th, Georgia’s State Security Service said it found a large stash of guns, ammunition, and explosives with detonators near Tbilisi. The agency said a Georgian citizen, identified as B.C., bought the weapons under instructions from a Georgian fighter in Ukraine. They said the armaments were supposed to be used during the 4th of October attempt to storm the Presidential Palace, along with other planned attacks in Tbilisi.

One of the European observers who attended the municipal elections turned out to be a well-known pro-Russian figure. Pro-government media introduced Frank Yvon Pengam as a French observer, but he is listed in an international database of fake election observers.

Pengam has observed elections only in Russia and Georgia. In twenty twenty-four, he praised Russia’s presidential election, saying it was held at the highest level and celebrated Vladimir Putin’s brilliant victory. He works as an analyst for Géopolitique Profonde, a platform known for spreading conspiracy theories and anti-Western, pro-Russian narratives. Pengam has also appeared multiple times on Russia Today and even filmed a report from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, where he said locals were grateful to Russia.

Next up, on Thursday, the 2nd, Kakha Tsikarishvili, a lawyer working on court-related cases, shared a video where Besarion Alavidze, the former Supreme Court judge, speaks about the years of pressure, threats, and bribe offers he faced while working in court. In the video, Alavidze says he even thought about hanging himself from the Supreme Court roof in his robe to show the public what was happening inside the judiciary.

Alavidze described multiple cases and said he holds recordings exposing members of the Clan and their control over judges, case outcomes, and appointments. He said that he sees no point in sharing these records now, as every institution in the country is controlled by Ivanishvili, but warned that if the Prosecutor's office tries to bring a case against him, he will make them public. This video was taken in twenty twenty-two, but only shared now, after Alavidze left the country.

Changing Gears. David Gogoberishvili, the former director of Gldani Prison, was found dead by a gunshot in his garage on Tuesday, the 3rd. This is the same prison where Gogi Bachiashvili, former aide to Bidzina Ivanishvili, is serving his sentence for defrauding his boss of several thousand bitcoins. Bachiashvili was also attacked and beaten while in this prison.

Bachiashvili said that before the attack, the director threatened him, and then another inmate was allowed into his cell to assault him. Authorities said Bachiashvili might have organized the attack on himself, in collusion with the director and other prison staff, possibly to strengthen his image as a political prisoner. They also said the director and his deputy resigned to avoid interfering with the investigation.

On Wednesday, the 8th, the Georgian Orthodox Church shared a public letter by Patriarch Ilia II where he speaks about artificial intelligence. He said new technologies and AI bring both great benefits and serious dangers. According to him, AI can help people share knowledge and communicate faster than ever, but it could also push humanity toward moral collapse if used without wisdom.

He said society already feels these risks and tries to create safeguards, but it’s unclear whether those efforts will succeed. He called on the Church to remain a center of true education and moral guidance, helping people tell good from evil in a world driven by information and technology.

On Friday, the 3rd, Rikard Jozwiak, head of Radio Free Europe’s Brussels bureau, said that the European Union is thinking about sanctions on the Georgian state propaganda channels Imedi and POSTV. He says the EU is discussing the move under its sanctions regime targeting Russian hybrid threats.

These sanctions apply to people or organizations involved in actions by the Russian government that threaten the EU’s core values, security, stability, independence, or territorial integrity.

Ending this edition with some good news, from the 15th to the 19th of October, Georgia will take part in the Frankfurt Book Fair for the first time under its newly founded Book Association. The association was created in February twenty twenty-five by organizations that left the previous Georgian Publishers and Booksellers Association in protest over growing government interference in their work.

The association said its members, composed of publishers, writers, translators, and other literary professionals, have long stood on the frontlines of Georgia’s protests for justice, freedom, and democracy. It said that taking part in the Frankfurt Book Fair and presenting Georgia’s collective stand is a way to show solidarity with the people continuing the fight.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

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Nakhvamdis!