TBILISI: Georgia’s ruling party claimed victory in a legislative election Saturday that the pro-western opposition denounced as a “constitutional coup” and could deal a new blow to the Caucasus country’s hopes of joining the European Union.

If the partial results confirm the victory of the Georgian Dream party, the country could be heading for closer ties with neighbouring Russia.

Brussels has harshly criticised the Georgian Dream’s policies and said the election would play a decisive role in Georgia’s chances of joining the EU.

With votes from more than 70 percent of precincts counted, the central election commission said Georgian Dream was leading with 53 percent, while the main opposition union was on 38 percent.

That would give Georgian Dream 89 seats in the 150-member parliament – enough to govern but short of the absolute majority it wants to make sweeping constitutional changes. Final results were expected on Sunday.

“Georgian Dream has secured a solid majority”, the party’s executive secretary, Mamuka Mdinaradze, told reporters.

Tina Bokuchava, leader of the opposition United National Movement (UNM), which campaigned on a pro-European platform, said however the results were “falsified” and the election “stolen”.

“This is an attempt to steal Georgia’s future,” she said, insisting that the UNM did not accept the results. “We hope that the opposition will be united in all calls for action that will be announced in the hours to come.”

Nika Gvaramia, leader of the Akhali party, called it a “a constitutional coup” by the government. “Georgian Dream will not stay in power,” he said.

The opposition has staged mass demonstrations in recent months against what it says are government attempts to curtail democratic freedoms and steer the country of four million off its pro-Western course.

Rival exit polls published after voting ended had shown the ruling party and the opposition ahead.

Pro-opposition Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili hailed a victory for “European Georgia” despite “attempts to rig” the vote after one exit poll said the opposition won.

After another showed a win for the government, Georgian Dream’s billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili hailed the party’s “success” at a post-election rally where he pumped his fist in celebration.

“I assure you, our country will achieve great success in the next four years. We will do a lot,” he said.

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Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is also friendly with Moscow, was quick to hail Georgian Dream’s “overwhelming victory” on social media.

Alleged voting violations

Tbilisi voters had expressed diverging views over their country’s future as they cast ballots.

“Of course, I have voted for Europe. Because I want to live in Europe, not in Russia. So, I voted for change,” said Alexandre Guldani, an 18-year-old student.

But Giga Abuladze, who works in a kindergarten, said “We should be friends with Russia – and Europe”.

Opposition parties alleged incidents of ballot stuffing and intimidation during voting.

Zurabishvili said there had been “deeply troubling incidents of violence” at some polling stations.

One video circulated on social media showed a fight between dozens of men outside a polling station in suburban Tbilisi.

The were also videos of alleged ballot stuffing in the southeastern village of Sadakhlo.

Anti-Western rhetoric

In power since 2012, Georgian Dream initially pursued a liberal pro-Western policy agenda. But it has reversed course over the last two years.Its campaign centred on a conspiracy theory about a “global war party” that controls Western institutions and is seeking to drag Georgia into the Russia-Ukraine war.

In a country scarred by Russia’s 2008 invasion, the party has offered voters bogeyman stories about an imminent threat of war, which only Georgian Dream could prevent.

Russia still has military bases in two separatist regions.

Georgian Dream’s controversial “foreign influence” law this year, targeting civil society, sparked weeks of street protests and was criticised as a Kremlin-style measure to silence dissent.

The move prompted Brussels to freeze Georgia’s EU accession process, while Washington imposed sanctions on dozens of Georgian officials.

The ruling party has also mounted a campaign against sexual minorities.

It has adopted measures that ban LGBTQ “propaganda”, nullify same-sex marriages conducted abroad, and outlaw gender reassignment.