on the other hand, has the administrative resources and support of the ruling party.

According to a poll by the American company Edison Research conducted several days before the second round of the elections, Vashadze is leading with 52 per cent of the vote. The survey was commissioned by pro-opposition TV company Rustavi-2.

The Russian factor – the main strategy of both the opposition and the authorities

During the election campaign, both the opposition and the ruling party have played the Russian card against their opponents. Candidates and their supporters accuse each other of taking a supposedly pro-Russian position.

“I will not give Georgia up to Vashadze and Russia,” Zourabichvili said in her election campaign video.

“We cannot have a president who believes that Georgia has started the war,” says a voice-over inhas focused on poverty and unemployment, which has significantly increased in Georgia in recent years, and on the devaluation of the national currency.

Vashadze’s campaign ads feature Georgians claiming they have no money for food or medicine, and that their lives have changed for the worse in economic terms since billionaire Ivanishvili has come to power.

The opposition also focuses on corruption, showing the lavish houses of officials built over the past six years during their time in power.

Elections without a candidate

Another unique aspect of the second round has been the authorities’ strategy towards presidential candidate Zourabichvili – on the eve of the second round, she has literally disappeared from the political arena.

Zourabichvili did not make a statement or come into contact with journalists for several days once the results