Georgia votes in key test for democracy, EU ambitions

Tbilisi: Georgians voted on Saturday in elections that will determine the fledgling democracy s European aspirations, amid growing concerns the ruling...

Tbilisi: Georgians voted on Saturday in elections that will determine the fledgling democracy's European aspirations, amid growing concerns the ruling party is drifting towards Russia.

The parliamentary election pits an unprecedented union of pro-Western opposition forces against the ruling Georgian Dream accused of stifling democracy and pivoting towards Moscow.

Brussels has warned that the vote will determine European Union-candidate Tbilisi's chances of joining the bloc.

Opinion polls in the country of four million indicate opposition parties could get enough votes to form a coalition to supplant Georgian Dream, controlled by powerful billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili said the vote would "determine Georgia's future", while the chair of the United National Movement opposition party, Tina Bokuchava, promised a "great day of national victory".