Georgia’s ruling party Georgian Dream secured a convincing victory in Oct. 2 local elections that were widely seen as a referendum on the current authorities. However, the imprisonment of returning former president Mikheil Saakashvili on the eve of the vote leaves little realistic chance of an end to the political tensions that have plagued the country in recent years.
Mikheil Saakashvili
OP-ED
Peter Dickinson: Saakashvili arrest overshadows Georgian ruling party’s election win
Supporters of former Georgia's president Mikheil Saakashvili rally outside the prison where he serves a six-year sentence in Rustavi, outside Tbilisi, on Oct. 4, 2021.
