On 28 October, Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia stated that the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party’s election campaign was “very open and transparent.” Gakharia denied allegations that the government had been using administrative resources, threats and resorting to vote-buying. “I do not need these polls, I can feel that the GD is enjoying significantly more support, and we will see this at the elections. Our opponents can feel this too, hence the hysteria and the commotion that we hear and with which, unfortunately, we will have to coexist for the next four days. The next four days will be quite toxic,” he said.

Speaking about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic Gakharia reiterated that no ‘systemic lockdown’ or strict restrictions would be imposed after the elections. However, he claimed that the day after the elections the government will start to carry out its post-crisis economic plan. He added that the increased number of the individuals who have recovered from Covid-19 gave reason for cautious optimism. Other Georgian government officials also claimed that health and safety in the election process would be fully guaranteed.

The GD also condemned the opposition United National Movement (UNM) party due to their request to hold a large rally on Rustaveli Avenue in central Tbilisi on election day. The GD officials stated that the UNM plans to spark tension on the election day as they have “zero chance of winning the elections.” The Vice Speaker of the country’s parliament and GD official Mamuka Mdinaradze even stated that the UNM is on the verge of dissolution and if all voters go to the elections, the party will be destroyed ‘which will give way to new, healthy political forces.’

The GD also accused the UNM of having a “revolutionary headquarters” along with the official election headquarters which is chaired by the country’s former Interior Minister, recently released Vano Merabishvili. The UNM responded by saying that the GD was “becoming more and more inappropriate as the election day approaches.” The Head of the Election Headquarters of European Georgia (EG) opposition party Sergi Kapanadze also responded to the GD’s accusations, saying that they were absurd. “Georgian Dream is trying to assure people that disorder and destabilisation is being prepared. In fact, from 2 November, the government plans a full lockdown of the country on the pretext of healthcare concerns. But actually, it needs to keep the country closed before the second round of elections to have benefits with respect to election campaigning,” Kapanadze added. It was also reported that members of the EG Khatuna Gogorishvili and Elene Khoshtaria entered the building of the Central Election Commission (CEC) and demanded a meeting with CEC Chairwoman Tamar Zhvania.