Saturday's election was the first real test for the ruling Georgian Dream since the highly disputed election last year, which led to the EU pausing the Caucasian country's candidacy for the union. Eight opposition parties, including the two largest, boycotted the local election.
On Saturday evening, the election authority announced that the ruling party had gained a majority in all of the country's municipalities. In addition, they are said to have secured the post of mayor in all cities.
The message led to tens of thousands of demonstrators gathering immediately on Freedom Square in the capital Tbilisi to protest with Georgian and EU flags.
Marched towards the palace
The former opera singer Paata Burchuladze held a acclaimed speech where he declared the government illegal and that power should return to the people. The demonstrators then marched towards the presidential palace where they tried to get in, after which the police fired both tear gas and water cannons.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze calls it a "coup, planned by foreign intelligence services".
Every single person involved in this violent act will be prosecuted, he says during a press conference.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has launched an investigation into what they call "calls for violent change of Georgia's constitutional order or to overthrow the state's authority".
Russian puppet?
Five leading figures in the demonstration movement have been arrested and risk up to five years in prison. Burchuladze is one of them, but he is said to have been taken to hospital during the night.
Kobakhidze says on Sunday that the opposition will be "completely neutralized and no longer allowed to be active in Georgian politics".
The local elections in the country are usually not as politically charged as now. But after months of protests against Georgian Dream, the imprisoned ex-president Micheil Saakasjvili urged protests before the election - as a "last chance" to save democracy in the country.
Georgian Dream has been accused in recent years of increasingly acting as a puppet for Russia. The party has, among other things, frozen the negotiations on accession to the EU.
