Voters in the country of Georgia are called to the polls for parliamentary elections on Saturday, October 26. In the cities, along the roads and in the villages, huge, colorful, and provocative campaign posters of Georgian Dream, Georgia's ruling party, visually overpower those of the almost non-existent opposition parties. Led by its founder, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgian Dream, which has been in power for the past 12 years, is presenting this election as an existential choice between peace and war.

One of its posters juxtaposes black-and-white images of war-torn Ukraine with colorful photos of prosperous, peaceful Georgia. A destroyed boulevard in Ukraine is shown next to a newly renovated avenue in Tbilisi. At the same time, a bombed-out Ukrainian football stadium contrasts with one of the many stadiums built in the country during the Georgian Dream's time in office. Under the Ukrainian images is the caption "No war" and under the Georgian images, "Choose peace." The message is simple: the opposition will inevitably lead the country into war with Russia, while the ruling party is best positioned to bring peace and prosperity.

These posters have shocked many Georgian citizens, especially the intelligentsia, who felt that they shifted the blame for the Russian invasion onto the Ukrainians. "I have never seen anything so shameful, so offensive to our culture, our traditions, our history and our beliefs," Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, an ardent critic of Georgian Dream, wrote on her Facebook account.

However, in the villages around the city of Gori, 70 kilometers north of Tbilisi, the perception is not quite the same. "I'm going to vote for peace, of course," explained Bondo, the village baker in Karaleti, as he put his loaves to bake on the walls of the toné, a traditional stone oven, located right in the middle of his bakery. Will he vote for Georgian Dream? He refused to give a direct answer. "I'm apolitical. I just bake bread," insisted the slender, energetic 40-year-old.

Marina, who works behind the counter at the bakery, will also be voting "for peace," but said no more. "We're not interested in politics. We don't decide anything," she said with a broad smile. Bondo and Marina remember all too well what happened 16 years ago in this region, which is often described as "Georgia's orchard," when Russian tanks rolled in. "The Russian tanks were there, packed so tightly they were touching, on the main street. Everything happened very quickly. We had to flee; only the elderly stayed. Several houses were looted and then set on fire by the troops. We don't want that to happen again," said Marina, still visibly affected by the memory.

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