On October 26, Georgians went out to vote in much-anticipated parliamentary elections, hopeful that the day would see their country remain on its democratic path and maybe even freeze oligarch former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili out of power. The last dregs of that hope vanished shortly after the polling stations closed. Premature jubilation over the exit polls published by what remains of Georgia’s independent media was soon replaced by despairing silence as the first official results were published. Exit polls had the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party trailing at around 42 % of the vote…