Republicans vote for ‘the government Georgia deserves’

Republican leader Davit Usupashvili and his wife Tina Khidasheli, an MP running for a majoritarian seat, voted just past 11 a.m. in the capital’s Saburtalo district.

Accompanied by their two children, Usupashvili said he was casting his ballot “for a better future, because this county deserves one. I want Georgia to get the government it deserves through fair elections.”

The moderate liberal Republicans have cast themselves as the “rational” alternative to the ruling party. On a talk-show last night, Usupashvili said it wasn’t enough to vote out the government—Georgia also needs to vote in someone better.

“Today is my child’s eighth birthday,” Khidasheli told the throng of news crews, “so I want this day to be as happy for me as it was eight years ago. This country deserves it.”

The Republicans, a three-decade old party with a handful of members in the previous parliament, are struggling to clear the five percent minimum vote threshold for seats.

(There is a legal injunction on publishing opinion survey results before the polls close this evening at 8 p.m., so there will be no numbers beyond turnout posted until then. You can browse earlier posts for a look at party standings.)