The uncertainty of Georgia's parliamentary elections

Last weekend Georgia's parliamentary elections were held, and until now it is not possible to preview some results. People in Georgia went to the polls for an election already billed as a “turning point” for the country.

Tension is unexpectedly high, after the recent revelation of a prison abuse scandal shocked the nation and undermined the government’s image of committment to the rule of law. But international electoral observers from the European Parliament pointed some problems through the day of vote, like the lack of identification or no counting of voters.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s government has claimed victory in parliamentary elections despite exit polls indicating a close result with the opposition. This election is seen as the biggest test of the current leaders popularity since he came to power in 2003 after the Rose Revolution. In 2008 he led the country into a disastrous five day conflict with Russia and has attempted to portray the vote as a choice between his progressive Western-leaning United National Movement, and a future dominated by Russia.

Saakashvili’s second term as president ends in 2013 and he is barred from standing again under the constitution.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the main opposition candidate in the elections, turned up at his local polling station and refused to vote. The billionaire leader of the six-party Georgian Dream movement claimed that the constitution was being "distorted" and would not cast his ballot in what he deemed “something close to a democratic election”.

Although it is too early to say something, it is a fact that this democracy is not mature enough to apply important principles as free and fair elections. We have to wait some days to evaluate the results and the reaction of the georgian citizens.