TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Police in Georgia used water cannons and pepper spray on Saturday to push back protesters who tried to storm the presidential palace, as the South Caucasus country held a municipal election boycotted by the main opposition blocs amid a sweeping crackdown on dissent.
Tens of thousands rallied in the capital, Tbilisi, to protest repressive policies by the governing party, Georgian Dream, which they see as trying to pull Georgia away from its democratic aspirations and into Russia’s orbit.
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Opposition supporters with Georgian national flags gather in the city center of Tbilisi, Georgia, on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, boycotting the municipal elections and call for the release of political opponents. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Police use a water cannon to block protesters during an opposition rally in the city center of Tbilisi, Georgia, on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, boycotting the municipal elections and call for the release of political opponents. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Opposition supporters with Georgian national flags gather in the city center of Tbilisi, Georgia, on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, boycotting the municipal elections and call for the release of political opponents. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Police use a water cannon to block protesters during an opposition rally in the city center of Tbilisi, Georgia, on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, boycotting the municipal elections and call for the release of political opponents. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Opposition supporters with Georgian national and EU flags gather in the city center of Tbilisi, Georgia, on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, boycotting the municipal elections and call for the release of political opponents. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
They carried Georgian flags and placards supporting membership in the European Union, a cherished goal for many that has been enshrined in the country’s constitution.
Georgian Dream halted talks about joining the bloc last year, triggering waves of protests that have been met with mass arrests and police violence. The move came after the longtime ruling party declared victory in an election the opposition said was rigged.
The rallies, big and small, have continued despite a multipronged crackdown by the government through laws that target demonstrators, rights groups, nongovernmental organizations and independent media. Critics say some have been modeled on legislation passed in Russia, where President Vladimir Putin has harshly stifled dissent.
“We fight for our rights, for independence,” protester Sophio Asatiani told The Associated Press on Saturday. She said that she didn't want to see a return to the Soviet era, when Georgia was ruled from Moscow.
The rally’s organizers, including veteran opera singer Paata Burchuladze, called on protesters to “take power back into the hands of the people,” channelling widespread frustration with a government that has jailed key opposition figures, attempted to shut down critical media and used mass arrest and steep fines against largely peaceful demonstrators.
Some then tried to force entry into the presidential palace in central Tbilisi, smashing the gate before being driven away by riot police.
The opposition had promised a “peaceful revolution” before Saturday’s municipal election, boycotted by most parties critical of Georgian Dream. Preliminary data from the Central Election Commission pointed to less than 30% turnout in the first half of the day.
Giorgi Rukhadze, a political analyst in Tbilisi who was one of the protesters marching on Saturday, dismissed the vote as a “mock election.”
“The only way to put (Georgian Dream) out of power peacefully is non-obedience, noncompliance,” he said, arguing that people should join any forms of peaceful protests available to them.
Georgian police on Saturday said the ongoing rally violated Georgian laws that regulate public assemblies and protest. It didn't provide specifics.
Shortly after polls closed on Saturday evening, Georgia’s Central Election Commission said that the vote had passed with no major disturbances. It added results would be announced within hours.
More than 50 international and local groups were registered to observe the municipal vote. But none of the major international watchdogs that monitored the previous local vote in 2021 — including delegations from the European Parliament, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and major U.S. nonprofits — were present this time.
Key Georgian nongovernmental organizations also chose not to deploy missions, citing Georgian Dream’s recent repressive laws and a broader deterioration in the political and legal environment.
Opposition supporters with Georgian national flags gather in the city center of Tbilisi, Georgia, on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, boycotting the municipal elections and call for the release of political opponents. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Police use a water cannon to block protesters during an opposition rally in the city center of Tbilisi, Georgia, on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, boycotting the municipal elections and call for the release of political opponents. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Opposition supporters with Georgian national flags gather in the city center of Tbilisi, Georgia, on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, boycotting the municipal elections and call for the release of political opponents. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Police use a water cannon to block protesters during an opposition rally in the city center of Tbilisi, Georgia, on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, boycotting the municipal elections and call for the release of political opponents. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Opposition supporters with Georgian national and EU flags gather in the city center of Tbilisi, Georgia, on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, boycotting the municipal elections and call for the release of political opponents. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
HONG KONG (AP) — About a third of Hong Kong 's registered voters elected a new 90-member legislature Sunday, a turnout that avoided an embarrassment for the government but fell short of a ringing endorsement of an electoral system revamp that eliminated the once feisty opposition in the Chinese territory.
The turnout rate reached 31.9%, surpassing the 30.2% in the 2021 election, the first held under the new system. It was much lower than before the electoral changes, when turnout topped 50%.
Many of the city’s 4.1 million eligible voters, especially democracy supporters, have turned away from politics since a crackdown that has stifled dissent. Candidates must now go through a vetting process that ensures they are patriots who are loyal to the Chinese government. The government says the changes were needed to bring stability after massive anti-government protests in 2019.
The government launched a major campaign to drive up turnout, adding polling stations, extending voting hours and holding candidate forums. But public anger over government accountability in an apartment fire that killed at least 159 people late last month threatened to keep some potential voters at home.
In the end, enough came out to nudge up the turnout rate from 2021, the lowest since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Ahead of the vote, Chinese authorities called foreign media to a rare meeting to warn them that they need to comply with the city's national security laws.
Election campaigning was suspended after the fire and remained subdued in the final days out of respect for the victims.
Government efforts to drive up turnout, seen as a referendum on the new electoral system, had been in full swing before the blaze. Promotional banners and posters were hung throughout the city and subsidies offered to centers for older people and people with disabilities to help them vote.
Authorities arrested people who allegedly posted content that incited others not to vote or cast invalid votes.
Hong Kong's deadliest fire in decades has raised questions over government oversight and suspected bid-rigging in building maintenance projects. The 1980s-era apartment complex was undergoing renovations.
Some candidates pledged to combat bid-rigging.
City leader John Lee said in a statement on Monday that holding a smooth election during a difficult period for Hong Kong “carries profound significance," saying he expected the lawmakers would work with the government to drive systemic reforms following the fire.
Even before the 2021 electoral changes, only half of what had been a 70-member legislature was chosen by the general electorate.
Now, that has been reduced to 20 out of 90 seats and 40 others are chosen by a largely pro-Beijing election committee. The remaining 30 represent various groups — mainly major industries such as finance, health care and real estate — and are elected by their members.
The “patriots” requirement for all candidates has pushed out the opposition parties, which advocated for making the system more democratic.
“I’m performing my civic duty as a citizen to vote … but I’m not too certain which candidate is hardworking and which is not,” retiree Kwan Lam said outside a polling station. “I chose the one who cares for the elderly.”
Olympic fencing champion Vivian Kong on Monday won in the tourism sector, despite lacking industry experience.
The candidate pool seems to reflect Beijing's desire to have more lawmakers who are more in tune with its agenda, some observers said, in what they see as signs of Beijing’s tightening control even over its loyalists.
Lee has said that personnel changes are normal during an election. He criticized attempts to “distort” these changes to smear the new election system.
Ho-fung Hung, professor of political economy at Johns Hopkins University, said voter turnout was far lower than the 2016 election despite the vast resources the government had mobilized to boost turnout. The actual number of people who voted was also down from 2016 due to a shrinking electorate, he said.
The fire also contributed to the low turnout, Hung said.
“But it may work toward the government’s advantage, as they can blame the tragedy for the poor performance, or even say that the not-so-drastic drop in voting number despite the fire is an achievement,” he said.
John Burns, an honorary professor of politics and public administration at the University of Hong Kong, said the election shows that the city remains polarized with pro-establishment and opposition camps.
“The fire ... played a role because it exposed various governance problems that no resident could be happy about," he said.
But Electoral Affairs Commission chairperson David Lok found it encouraging that 1.3 million people voted, saying the current atmosphere made holding the election difficult as many were affected by the blaze.
Beijing's office on Hong Kong affairs hailed the increase in turnout rate in a WeChat statement, saying it reflected Hong Kong society's support for the poll.
Beijing’s national security arm in Hong Kong summoned representatives of several foreign news outlets, including The Associated Press, on Saturday.
Some foreign media had spread false information and smeared the government's disaster relief efforts after the fire, as well as attacked and interfered with the legislative elections, the Office for Safeguarding National Security said in a statement.
“No media outlet may use ‘freedom of the press’ as a pretext to interfere in China’s internal affairs or Hong Kong affairs,” the statement said.
Authorities have warned the general public against using the fire to try to undermine the government and have arrested at least one person on suspicion of inciting hatred against government officials.
Moritsugu reported from Beijing. Associated Press writer Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
Gary Chan, candidates of the Legislative Council Election, center, campaigns on the street during the Legislative Council General Election in Hong Kong on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Gary Chan, candidates of the Legislative Council Election, center, campaigns on the street during the Legislative Council General Election in Hong Kong on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
People walk past a polling station near the site of the fire at Wang Fuk Court in the Tai Po district during the Legislative Council General Election in Hong Kong on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Hong Kong's Chief Executive, John Lee casts his ballot at a polling station during the Legislative Council General Election in Hong Kong on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
People read the candidates information at a polling station near the site of the fire at Wang Fuk Court in the Tai Po district during the Legislative Council General Election in Hong Kong on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Hong Kong's Chief Executive John Lee, poses for photos at a polling station during the Legislative Council General Election in Hong Kong on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Hong Kong's Chief Executive John Lee speaks to the media at a polling station during the Legislative Council General Election in Hong Kong on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Hong Kong's Chief Executive John Lee casts his ballot at a polling station during the Legislative Council General Election in Hong Kong on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
People look at a candidate brochure of the Hong Kong Legislative Council General Election at a forum in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Pedestrians walk past the banner promoting the Hong Kong Legislative Council General Election in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
