Republic of Georgia’s Ruling Party Claims Election Victory

The governing party in Georgia, which has increasingly steered the nation toward Russia and China, claimed victory Saturday in a parliamentary election that both the government and the opposition described as decisive for the country’s future.

Georgia’s splintered opposition did not admit defeat, setting the stage for a likely political crisis that could further polarize the struggle between the pro-Western opposition and the governing party, which aims to assert its conservative course. The nation is a strategically important mountainous republic at the center of the Caucasus.

The Election Administration of Georgia, the body that administers elections in the country, reported on Saturday night that the governing Georgian Dream party, which has been in power since 2012, garnered 53 percent of the vote after nearly 72 percent of election precincts reported their results.

Speaking shortly after the polling stations closed, Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder and informal leader of Georgian Dream, claimed victory in a speech outside his party’s headquarters in the capital, Tbilisi. He said the vote was “a rare case in the world that the same party would achieve such results for 12 years in such challenging circumstances.”

Mr. Ivanishvili’s speech was followed by fireworks. Cars with Georgian Dream’s insignia drove across Tbilisi, honking in celebration.

The opposition, which has been divided into four main political forces, had claimed victory before preliminary results of exit polls were announced. They referred to results of two exit polls commissioned by opposition-friendly television networks, which predicted that with their votes combined they should receive a majority of seats in Parliament.