This archive report was first published on 2 October 2021.
Georgians were voting in closely watched municipal elections on Saturday, October 2, 2021, amidst a backdrop of political turmoil. The detention of Mikheil Saakashvili, the country's former president and opposition leader, had raised the stakes in the elections.
Saakashvili, 53, the founder of Georgia's main opposition party, the United National Movement (UNM), and the country's president from 2003 to 2014, had returned from Ukraine, where he headed a Ukrainian government agency steering reforms. He was detained shortly afterward over a 2018 conviction in absentia on abuse of office charges.
His jailing will almost certainly spark upheaval in the small ex-Soviet nation that has been plagued for years by political instability. Saakashvili denies wrongdoing and had denounced his sentence to six years in jail as politically motivated.
As the country votes, Saakashvili's supporters are calling for protests against the government. In a video message posted on Facebook, he urged his supporters to take to the streets against the government.
Founded by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgian Dream has been the ruling party since 2012. Critics have accused the party of using criminal prosecutions to punish political opponents and journalists.
