After Saakashvili’s arrest, Georgians voted in key local polls

On the day after the former president was arrested, voters are voting in the municipal elections that are closely watched.

One day after former president and opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili (Mikheil Saakashvili), Georgian voters are voting in closely watched municipal elections Returned from exile and was arrested.

The detention of the country’s most important opposition figure increases the risk of Saturday’s poll, which is seen as a key test for the increasingly unpopular ruling Georgian Dream Party.

Saakashvili, 53, the founder of the United National Movement (UNM), Georgia’s main opposition party, said on Friday that he had returned from Ukraine, where he led the reform of Ukrainian government institutions.

Saakashvili arrived at Rustavi prison under police escort [Georgian Interior Ministry/Handout via Reuters]

The gorgeous pro-Western reformer was detained shortly after being convicted in absentia for abuse of power in 2018. He denied wrongdoing and condemned his six-year imprisonment as politically motivated.

Al Jazeera’s Robin Forestier-Walker reported in the capital Tbilisi that Saakashvili’s “unexpected” return from exile and subsequent arrests cast a shadow over the polls.

“A lot of people now want to know whether there will be a major change in turnout. Those who support the former president have the motivation to stand up after hearing what he said yesterday. He called on Georgians to vote decisively,” Forestier-Walker said.

Letter from my prison
My dear colleague and my Georgian community.

When I left Kiev and came here, I knew that I was likely to be arrested and made false sentences based on Putin’s orders. Except for Russia, no country in the world recognizes this sentence… pic.twitter.com/ffA8VPvhz6

— Mikhail Saakashvili (@SaakashviliM) October 2, 2021

Saakashvili posted on Twitter on Saturday with a photo of a letter written to prison supporters. He said: “I want to ask all of you to participate in the election so as not to lose one vote.”

He added: “My freedom, and more importantly, Georgia’s freedom, depends entirely on your actions and combat capabilities.”

Before his arrest, he posted a video message on Facebook calling on supporters to take to the streets to oppose the government.

Georgian Dream was founded by the powerful billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili and has been the ruling party since 2012.

Critics accuse it of using criminal proceedings to punish political opponents and journalists.

Interpol rejected Tbilisi’s request to issue a red arrest warrant to Saakashvili.