Let's talk about Georgia
A series of 7 episodes about the October 2024 elections in a small country in Caucasus
Russian influence, election monitoring, election meddling, Foreign Interference, propaganda, disinformation, European policy, Transparency, democracy… In the world of OSINT and Disinformation, we are using all these words in every report, study, research, briefing or LinkedIn posts. But in Georgia, it was really happening, with real people, all of this and all at once. It would happen not on the internet, not on networks, not AI or Twitter, but on billboards in the streets, in physical polling stations, in a real parliament, in demonstrations.
So, we went to spend two weeks in Tbilisi, one before the elections, one after. This is a subjective view, in 7 episodes, of what I saw and understood.
This is a tale about European style democracy fighting Russian style authoritarianism in a small country at the crossroad of four continents.
Thanks, Eva Bauchau, for context, expertise, contacts and on-site support. Thanks, Claire Pershan, for re-reading
Below is the list of the 7 episodes
The land with no common border with Europe (episode 1)
Wake up at 12.30. Bound to, with an arrival at 4.25 am. It does not seem possible to arrive in this country at any other time than 4.25. The 1st time I was here, last year, it was exactly the same story… It was for an international fact checking conference. Because yes, here, on the disinfo frontline, fact checking is still a thing.
Democracy and election.s rigging (episode 2)
Elections or Election…?
It was never exactly clear in my head which one to use.
Yes, yes, I know, one election is singular, and electionS is plural. But let’s think of it, what is an election? Dropping one ballot in a ballot box is an election. So, millions of people with millions of hopes, millions of pasts and millions of futures dropping millions of ballots into thousands of ballot boxes means electionS.
Apathetic fascism versus Revolucia (episode 3)
The Patriarchate had its own position. A neutral position, reminding everybody that they would not engage in politics themselves, but that they were in support of “peace” and traditional family values. In other words, a not-so-subtle copy paste of the Georgian Dream program. Ten days before, the Government had just passed decrees that would give land to the church for one symbolic Georgian Lira.
Can we breathe yet? (episode 4)
2pm: 22,22% of participation. Frauds, attempts or incidents in 9% of the voting stations according to ISFED.
It rains and it is sunny at the same time…
Hangover demonstration (episode 5)
54%. It had climbed up during the night.
Interactive map was showing scores touching 72%, 76% or 87% in some regions. In voting stations abroad, Georgian Dream was not above 15%.
Hangover and depression.
Nobody had yet called for a demonstration. It was more shock and stupefaction.
A nice sunny day though. And a guided walking tour.
Foreign influences (episode 6)
So, this was not so much joy time. The opposition did not seam to have such plan. They spoke about doing investigations to collect proofs of embezzlement. The president had done a series of interviews to foreign media, and elected MPs intended not to set foot in the parliament. I had hoped for Zourabichvili to come to the stage at the demonstration and to say, with the French accent, “I spoke to NATO buddies, they send the tanks, tomorrow it’s cleared up.”
I know, high hopes.
We will face them with democracy (episode 7)
Ringing at the door of the GYLA, the Georgian Young Lawyer Association, they are a bit mistrustful. They don’t open the door to me right away, ask who I am and who am I supposed to meet. Which is perfectly understandable given the fact that Georgian Dream has the power, managed to keep it, and vowed to use it to crush and ban the entire civil society and the opposition.