You're reading: Voice of America: Georgia polls close in election after ex-president’s arrest

Polls closed Saturday in Georgian municipal elections, a day after the dramatic arrest of ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili, who called from police custody for the country’s “peaceful transition to a genuine democracy.” The detention on Friday of Georgia’s foremost opposition figure upon his return from exile raised the stakes in the polls seen as a key test for the increasingly unpopular Georgian Dream ruling party.

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