Disinformation Narratives in 2024 Georgian Parliamentary Elections

by Elita Khmelidze 

Georgia’s parliamentary elections held on 26 October 2024 was a turning point for the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration path.  The results announced by Georgia’s Central Election Commission declared the ruling Georgian Dream Party won with a majority (53.93%), defeating the four major opposition parties. However, the results were soon questioned by local and international election observation missions, including Transparency International Georgia, International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), and OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), due to multiple irregularities. In particular, before the parliamentary elections, the ruling Georgian Dream Party (GD) resorted to misusing executive, institutional, and financial administration resources for electoral purposes. This included a myriad of illegal decisions and schemes to persecute civil society, opposition parties and critical media as well as instances of voter coercion. Some of these electoral irregularities reported by ISFED, included:

• Restricting observers’ rights
• Violation of inking procedures
• Presence of unauthorized persons at the polling station
• Physical violence
• Alleged vote-buying
• Violations related to ballots

The electoral campaign was characterized by highly divisive rhetoric and imagery. The campaign conducted by the ruling party Georgian Dream was framed in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war and aimed to bolster the fear of war and instability within Georgian society.

Disinformation Campaigns

Instances of disinformation spread by the ruling party during the electoral campaign were highly prevalent. Disinformation spread by the GD party members conveyed an anti-Western character and aimed to discredit the Euro-Atlantic institutions across several discursive dimensions:

1. Protecting the Georgian traditional values from the West
2. Georgia’s engagement in the Russia-Ukraine war
3. The West’s goal to meddle in Georgia’s internal affairs
4. Russia as a viable partner for regaining Georgia’s territorial integrity

Narrative 1: The GD as a protector of the traditional Georgian values

According to this narrative, the West threatens traditional Georgian values. In particular, the narrative refers to family values and emphasises that the ruling party is the sole actor who protects traditional Georgian family values. However, opposition parties, media, and NGOs are considered puppets of the West who receive money to spread LGBT propaganda and replace traditional family values by corrupted Western values.

Narrative 2: The GD party as a guarantor of peace in Georgia

During the electoral campaign, the rhetoric of the GD party leaders was imbued with discourse related to the Russian-Ukraine war. The narrative divides Georgian society into two conflicting parts. One part is inclined to instability and escalation to war in Georgia while another one fears the war and promotes peace.

According to ruling party leaders there is a “Global War Party”, referring to the EU and USA, who aim to open the so-called “second front” in Georgia after a war in Ukraine and take advantage of Russia. The ruling party thus proposed a false choice: peace under the GD versus war under opposition rule. It is worth noting that banners spreading this disinformation narrative were widely scattered throughout Tbilisi. The banners call on Georgian voters to say no to war and choose peace.

Source : Radio Free Europe (2024)

Narrative 3: The West’s interference in Georgia’s internal affairs

The narrative describes the West’s attempt to take control of Georgia by overthrowing the ruling party and replacing them with opposition parties considered puppets of the EU and USA due to alleged accusations of getting funding from them. According to the narrative, the demonstrations held by Georgian civil society were orchestrated by the West to escalate the “Ukrainian Maidan revolution” in Georgia. The disinformation campaign aimed to discredit pro-European protests and influence public opinion towards the West.

Narrative 4: Russia as a viable partner to restore Georgia’s territorial integrity

The narrative suggests that the GD is the only party which can resolve the issue of Georgia’s breakaway regions in cooperation with Russia. The Georgian Dream leaders blame the previous government headed by Mikheil Saakashvili for escalating the war with Russia, portray him as a puppet of the West and ignore Russia’s accountability for the war. The founder of the GD, Bidzina Ivanishvili, even proposed that Georgians were obliged to apologise for escalating the 2008 August war with Russia.

Narrative 5: Russia’s role in spreading disinformation

The narratives disseminated by the GD party officials were identical to the Kremlin’s propaganda. This is why GD party leaders are usually lauded by the Kremlin’s prominent propagandists for their braveness in telling an alleged truth about the West. Moreover, Russia had interfered directly in Georgia to influence public opinion across diverse social media platforms. Fake accounts were created in an attempt to manipulate the Georgian political discourse and distort the truth by disseminating anti-Western disinformation and propaganda. The main goal of such meddling was to discredit the West and change the Georgian public’s mindset in favour of Russia.

Georgian Dreams’ disinformation campaigns: implications for the future of Georgia

The disinformation narratives disseminated by the ruling party during the electoral period are focused on several dimensions. In particular, the narratives emphasize the ruling party’s aim to protect traditional Georgian values from the West and suggest a false dilemma if the Georgian Dream party does not hold the power the war will erupt in Georgia too. Moreover, the narratives strengthen the fear that the West induces massive protests in Georgia to overthrow the current government and replace them with opposition parties. Finally, the ruling Georgian Dream Party is the only political force that can restore Georgia’s territorial integrity through dialogue with Russia.

The disinformation campaign conducted by the ruling party accompanied by Russia’s meddling in Georgia’s internal affairs through information war threatens Georgia’s democratic development and its aspiration to join the EU and NATO in the future. Furthermore, the recent visa restriction measures and economic sanctions imposed by several EU countries and the USA on the ruling party’s members and party leader, Bidzina Ivanishvili gave rise to harsher disinformation campaigns against the West. The deterioration of the relationship between Georgia and the USA pushes Georgia into international isolation and creates a fertile ground for Russia to strengthen its grip on Georgia.

Elita Khmelidze is a postgraduate student (MA in European and Global Studies) at the University of Padua, Italy. Her research interests include Russia’s post-Soviet hybrid warfare campaigns, in particular contemporary Russian propaganda. Previously, Elita has worked with several Georgian fact-checking organisations and think tanks debunking Russian disinformation.

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