Russia interested in Georgia’s elections

A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson says Moscow is attentively following the parliamentary elections in Georgia, the Tass news agency is reporting.

“Russia cares about the results of the upcoming parliamentary elections in Georgia,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Tuesday.

"A fair election is certainly fully within the competence of the Georgian people - this is our basic approach," Zakharova said. "But at that, Georgia is our neighbour and the results of the political processes in that country interest us greatly, because it will define who will come to power in Georgia."

She added rather cryptically that Russia "attentively follows the processes, as the course announced by the country inside and outside will depend on who will come to power".

Based on the polls, the current ruling Georgian Dream coalition (GD) has the chance to gain more votes than other parties.

However, there are two aspects that are worth attention.

Firstly, the Georgian Dream coalition which was comprised of six political parties for 2012 parliamentary elections has split for the upcoming elections; the ruling Georgian Dream party has said it will take part in the elections alone.

Consequently the current polls might not reflect the genuine situation, as the surveys are about the coalition and not about its constituent parties.

Herewith, all surveys stressed majority of the Georgian population doesn’t know whom to vote, hence an effective campaign by even a small party could tip the balance against the dominant GD and UNM parties.

Most of the leading parties acting in Georgia currently say they have a pro-Western course, but unlike in previous elections it is not clear which (if any) the Western powers are backing. There is little doubt, however, that Moscow supports the handful of pro-Russia Georgian parties.

Despite the fact that the current Georgian Government tries to restore relations with Moscow, Russia continues to occupy 20 percent of Georgia's territory, and changes the border almost at will.