Former President Saakashvili Arrested Day Before Georgian Municipal Elections

Mikheil Saakashvili was the third President of Georgia (Wikimedia Commons).

Former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili was arrested upon his return to the country on October 1, a day before municipal elections were expected to begin. The outcome of these elections is widely seen as a test for the current ruling party, Georgian Dream, which took over after defeating Saakashvili’s United National Movement (ENM) party in the 2012 parliamentary elections.

Saakashvili came to power during Georgia’s bloodless Rose Revolution, ruling the country from 2004 to 2013 as its third president. After conceding defeat to Georgian Dream in 2013, Saakashvili left for Ukraine and became involved in the Ukrainian government. Saakashvili was convicted in absentia in 2018 for abusing his office, convictions he contests as “politically motivated.”

Saakashvili announced his intention to return to Georgia in a recent video post, claiming that he would help “save the country.” A subsequent video showed Saakashvili in the port city of Batumi, urging people to support the ENM party and engage in protests once polls closed. He acknowledged the likelihood of his arrest in another video taken in the Georgian capital, saying, “It is very likely they will arrest me now in Tbilisi.”

Ruling party authorities initially claimed that Saakashvili was not in the country; the Interior Ministry told independent news channel Formula TV, “Saakashvili did not cross Georgia’s border.” Georgian Dream Party chairman Irakli Kobakhidze reiterated those claims, calling Saakashvili a “clown.” However, footage was later released of the former president being taken to a penitentiary in Rustavi, a 30-minute drive from the capital. 

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili had previously announced, “If Saakashvili sets foot on Georgian soil, he will immediately be arrested.” Current Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has also stated she will not pardon the former president.

Saakashvili’s arrest exacerbates pre-existing tensions present in Georgia’s municipal elections, which are seen by the opposition as a referendum on Georgian Dream’s government. The stakes are high: under the terms of an EU-brokered deal, Georgian Dream must call snap parliamentary elections if it fails to garner 43 percent of the vote in local polls. Though Georgian Dream has since pulled out of this agreement, it is likely that they will be pressured to follow through on its terms.

The ruling party has become increasingly unpopular, facing accusations of electoral fraud, corruption, and pro-Russian stances, that have led to popular protests and standoffs in parliament.

The official results of the election point towards a Georgian Dream win with 46.7 percent of the vote, which would avoid snap elections. However, some pro-opposition sources report mixed results, meaning that there may still be runoffs. As in previous elections, the opposition is alleging fraud, including “intimidation and bribing of voters,” according to Giorgi Baramidze, an ENM party leader.

For Saakashvili, the outcome of these elections will directly affect both his freedom and the freedom of the Georgian people, according to a letter he released from prison, in which he urged the Georgian people to continue voting and “defend the results of the referendum.” He has reportedly begun a hunger strike, stating that he considers himself to be a “political prisoner.”