Sawt Falasteen - Georgia votes in key test for democracy, EU ambitions

The parliamentary election pits an unprecedented union of pro-Western opposition forces against the ruling Georgian Dream accused of stifling democracy and turning towards Russia.

Brussels has warned that the vote will determine European Union candidate Tbilisi's chances of joining the bloc.

Opinion polls indicate opposition parties could get enough votes to form a coalition to supplant Georgian Dream, controlled by powerful billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili -- at loggerheads with the ruling party -- said after casting her ballot: "Tonight, there will victory for all of Georgia.

"I am confident that this day will determine Georgia's future, the future for which I personally returned to this country 22 years ago," said the Paris-born daughter of Georgian emigres who fled to France following Georgia's annexation by Russia in 1921.

At another polling station in central Tbilisi, 48-year-old musician Giorgi Kipshidze told AFP: "I voted for the opposition, and I am sure they are going to win today."

- 'Georgia belongs in Europe' -

"Most Georgians have realised that the current government is dragging us back towards the Russian swamp and away from Europe, where Georgia truly belongs."

Analyst Gela Vasadze at Georgia's Strategic Analysis Centre warned that "if the ruling party attempts to stay in power regardless of the election outcome, then there is the risk of post-electoral turmoil."

Georgian Dream says it wants to win a supermajority which will allow it to pass a constitutional ban on all major opposition parties.

In power since 2012, the party initially pursued a liberal pro-Western policy agenda. But over the last two years the party has reversed course.

Its campaign has centred on a conspiracy theory about a "global war party" that controls Western institutions and is seeking to drag Georgia into the Russia-Ukraine war.

In a country still scarred by Russia's 2008 invasion, the party has offered voters bogeyman stories about an imminent threat of war, which only Georgian Dream could prevent.

In a recent TV interview, Ivanishvili painted a grotesque image of the West where "orgies are taking place right in the streets".

- 'Crucial test for democracy' -

Georgian Dream's passage of a controversial "foreign influence" law this spring, targeting civil society, sparked weeks of mass street protests and was criticised as a Kremlin-style measure to silence dissent.

The move prompted Brussels to freeze Georgia's EU accession process, while Washington imposed sanctions on dozens of Georgian officials.

Earlier this month, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell cautioned that Georgian Dream's actions "signal a shift towards authoritarianism".

He branded the upcoming polls "a crucial test for democracy in Georgia and its European Union path".

The Kremlin on Friday blasted "unprecedented attempts at Western interference" in the vote, accusing it of "trying to twist Tbilisi's hand" and "dictate terms".The latest polls show that the opposition is poised to garner enough ballots to take power.

The potential coalition grouping includes Georgia's main opposition force, jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili's United National Movement (UNM) and Akhali, a recently formed party headed by former UNM leaders.

Along with several smaller parties, they have signed up to a pro-European policy platform outlining far-reaching electoral, judicial and law enforcement reforms.

They have agreed to form an interim multi-party government to advance the reforms -- if they command enough seats in parliament -- before calling fresh elections.

A poll conducted by US pollster Edison Research shortly before the elections showed 34 percent of voters would back Georgian Dream, while the four opposition alliances combined are set to garner 53 percent of the vote.

No other party is expected to clear the five-percent electoral threshold needed to secure seats in the 150-member legislature.

But the outcome of the vote is far from a foregone conclusion, as more than a quarter of respondents told the pollster they were either undecided or refused to name their preferred political force.

Voting, which started at 0400 GMT, ends at 1600 GMT, with exit polls set to be released on closing in the country of four million.

W.Mansour--SF-PST