Georgia moves toward holding elections only within national borders

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has endorsed the ruling Georgian Dream party’s proposal to restrict parliamentary election voting to within Georgia’s borders.

He made the remarks during an appearance on the program “In Free Space” on Adjara Public Broadcasting.

“Although voting abroad did not influence the final outcome of the last parliamentary elections, we see that our citizens living in other countries are exposed to various forms of foreign influence. For this reason, elections should take place where the jurisdiction of our state applies fully,” Kobakhidze stated.

The prime minister added that citizens should be able to return to Georgia for at least one day to personally observe conditions in the country and cast their vote.

Kobakhidze also reiterated that no early elections will be held, emphasizing that the next parliamentary elections will take place on October 28, 2028, as prescribed by the Constitution.

“The elections will be held on October 28, 2028, in line with the Constitution. Even if early elections were held tomorrow, Georgian Dream would easily secure a constitutional majority. As the local elections showed, our support has grown further. Therefore, the opposition’s talk about early elections is an empty farce — they would never initiate them. They prefer to wait three years rather than shorten their own terms again,” he said.

On November 17, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili informed reporters that Georgian Dream had begun drafting legislation to ensure that parliamentary elections are conducted exclusively on Georgian territory.

By Tamilla Hasanova