Sawt Falasteen - Georgia votes in local polls as opposition urges 'last-chance' protest

The ruling Georgian Dream party faces its first electoral test since a disputed parliamentary poll a year ago plunged the Black Sea nation into turmoil and froze prospects for closer EU integration.

The normally low-key municipal vote has acquired high stakes after months of raids on independent media, restrictive laws on civil society, and jailings of opponents and activists.

Imprisoned reformist ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili has urged supporters to take to the streets on election day for what he said would be the "last chance" to save Georgian democracy.

"There are moments when action is needed here and now... Let's come on October 4 and stand our ground to the end. Freedom -- now or never," he wrote Thursday on Facebook.

"Many more people will be arrested and the rest driven out... total hopelessness will take hold, and the West will finally give up on us."

Opera star-turned-activist Paata Burchuladze has urged a "national assembly" rally outside parliament, casting it as a peaceful transfer of power from Georgian Dream.

- 'Behind bars' -

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said plans for a "revolution" are doomed to fail, accusing organisers of "radicalism" and vowing a harsh police response.

"Of course, the 'revolution' announced by Paata Burchuladze will not be successful, although it is possible that many people... may find themselves behind bars," he said.

On Tbilisi's streets, opinions were split ahead of the planned protest.

"Georgian Dream is wrecking our democracy and our European future. They have got to go," architect Levan Baramidze, 31, told AFP.

But schoolteacher Guliko Archvadze, 50, was among those who are downbeat.

"We were in the streets for months by the tens of thousands, and nothing changed," she said, calling the situation in Georgia "tragic and desperate".

"One more huge rally won't bring down Georgian Dream," she added.

Rights groups say some 60 people -- among them key opposition figures, journalists and activists -- have been jailed over the past year.

- 'Deep state' -

In power since 2012 and controlled by billionaire ex-PM Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgian Dream initially presented itself as a liberal alternative to Saakashvili's reformist camp.

But since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, critics say the party has tilted toward Moscow, pursuing far-right policies and adopting Kremlin-style measures targeting independent media and NGOs.

The party rejects the accusations, insisting it is safeguarding "stability" in the country of four million as a Western "deep state" seeks to drag Georgia into the war in Ukraine with the help of opposition parties.

Analysts say Georgian Dream's blunt pitch -- with the opposition, war; with us, peace -- resonates in rural areas and is amplified by disinformation.

A recent survey by the Institute of Social Studies and Analysis put the party's approval at about 36 percent, with 54 percent of Georgians backing the opposition.

Georgian Dream has threatened to ban all major opposition parties.

The European Union has sanctioned several officials over previous crackdowns on protestors.

It has also warned it could suspend the country's visa-free regime without progress on rule of law and rights commitments.

But the opposition itself is bitterly divided.

Some parties, including Saakashvili's United National Movement, are backing a plan to boycott the local votes and stage mass demonstrations, but others -- such as Lelo and For Georgia -- will stand candidates and have downplayed the prospects for the rally.

I.Matar--SF-PST