By Felix Light and Lucy Papachristou
TBILISI (Reuters) -Georgia’s ruling party and opposition parties claimed victory in a parliamentary election on Saturday that they say will determine if the former Soviet republic moves towards the West or leans back towards Russia amid the war in Ukraine.
Rival exit polls gave sharply different projections for the election. One survey showed the ruling party, which has recently moved towards pro-Russian rhetoric, winning comfortably and two other polls showed the opposition would clinch a majority.
An exit poll by the Georgian Dream-supporting Imedi TV channel showed the ruling party winning 56%.
But exit polls by the pro-opposition Formula and Mtavari Arkhi channels showed major gains for pro-Western opposition parties, who they suggested would together be able to form a majority in the 150 seat parliament.
All three TV channels showed candidates they respectively supported clapping and celebrating victory.
Bidzina Ivanishvili, the ruling party’s reclusive billionaire founder and onetime prime minister, claimed victory.
“It is a rare case in the world that the same party achieves such success in such a difficult situation – this is a good indicator of the talent of the Georgian people,” Ivanishvili said just minutes after polls closed.
“I assure you, our country will achieve great success in the next four years,” Ivanishvili said.
In power since 2012, Georgian Dream has shifted in the past two years towards pro-Russian rhetoric and has drawn the ire of its Western allies for what they cast as its increasingly authoritarian bent.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili – a one-time ally of the ruling party turned fierce critic whose powers are mostly ceremonial – and independent domestic election monitors had alleged Georgian Dream was engaged in widespread vote-buying and other forms of electoral abuse in the lead-up to the vote.
Georgian Dream did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The opposition claimed victory and said it was on course to win a majority. Early results were due imminently and fuller results should be announced within hours.
“European Georgia is winning with 52% despite attempts to rig elections and without votes from the diaspora,” Zourabichvili said on X.
The Formula exit poll said that the ruling party would be the single largest party but that the four main opposition parties combined would have 83 seats.
Georgia’s four main opposition blocs are deeply divided, and it is unclear if they will be able to work together if they deprive Georgian Dream of its majority.
(Reporting by Felix Light, Lucy Papachristou and Gleb Stolyarov; and Marina Bobrova in MoscowEditing by Guy Faulconbridge and Frances Kerry)
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