Tbilisi, Georgia – Georgia’s president said on Sunday that she did not recognize the results of last weekend’s parliamentary elections, which election officials say were won by the ruling party, adding that the country had fallen victim to a “Russian special operation” aimed at pulling it out of chaos. The road to Europe.
Standing alongside opposition leaders, President Salome Zurabishvili urged Georgians to gather Monday night on Tbilisi’s main street to protest what she called “total fraud, the complete theft of your votes,” raising the possibility of further political unrest in the South Caucasus country. .
She was speaking the day after elections that could decide whether Georgia will embrace Europe or fall under Russia’s control.
Zurabishvili said: “These elections cannot be recognized, because they are an acknowledgment of Russian interference here, and Georgia’s dependence on Russia.”
The Central Election Commission said on Sunday that the ruling Georgian Dream party received 54.8% of Saturday’s votes after nearly 100% of the votes were counted.
The Georgian Dream has become increasingly authoritarian over the past year, adopting laws similar to those used by Russia to suppress freedom of expression.
Brussels suspended Georgia’s membership process in the European Union indefinitely due to the Russian approach “Law of Foreign Influence” Passed in June.
Many Georgians view Saturday’s vote as a referendum on the opportunity to join the European Union.
The election campaign in the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million that borders Russia has been dominated by foreign policy, marked by a bitter battle for votes and allegations of a smear campaign.
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Zurabishvili suggested holding “Russian elections” in the country, and said, “Technology was used to whitewash fraud. Such a thing has never happened before.”
European election observers said the elections took place in a “divisive” environment characterized by intimidation, instances of vote buying, double voting and physical violence.
During the campaign, Georgian Dream used “anti-Western and hostile rhetoric… promoting Russian disinformation, manipulation and conspiracy theories,” said Antonio Lopez Isturez White, head of the European Parliament’s monitoring delegation.
“Ironically, the government also claimed to be pursuing Georgia’s European integration,” he added.
He said that holding elections is further evidence indicating the “democratic decline” of the ruling party.
European Council President Charles Michel said he called on officials in Georgia to “quickly, transparently and independently investigate” electoral irregularities, and called on the ruling party to show its “firm commitment” to the European Union.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, a member of the Georgian Dream party, on Sunday described his party’s victory as “impressive and clear” and said that “any attempts to talk about electoral manipulation… are doomed to failure.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was the first foreign leader to congratulate the Georgian Dream and will be the first foreign leader to visit Georgia and meet the Prime Minister when he visits the capital for a visit on Monday and Tuesday.
Georgian election observers, stationed across the country, also reported multiple violations and said the results did not reflect “the will of the Georgian people.”
In the capital, Tbilisi, Tiko Gelashvili (32 years old) said, “The results that were published are just lies and forged.”
Preliminary numbers indicate that the voter turnout was the highest since the Georgian Dream was first elected in 2012.
The opposition United National Movement party said its headquarters were attacked on Saturday, while Georgian media reported that two people were taken to hospital after being attacked outside polling stations.
“The most important question is whether or not the international community will recognize these elections,” said Natia Siscoria, executive director of the Regional Institute for Security Studies in Tbilisi. She said Georgia’s “economic and political prospects” hinge on the election.
Georgians have a complicated relationship with Russia, which ruled them from Moscow until Georgia’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Russia and Georgia fought a short war in 2008, and Moscow still occupies 20% of Georgia’s territory.
Despite this, the Georgian Dream adopted Russian-style laws, and many Georgians fear that the government will distance the country from the West and into Moscow’s orbit.
Election observers said cases of intimidation and electoral violations were particularly noticeable in rural areas.
Georgian Dream recorded the highest percentage of votes – at about 90% – in the Javakheti region of southern Georgia, 135 kilometers (83 miles) west of the capital. In Tbilisi, it did not receive more than 44% of the votes in any district.
Javakheti is a predominantly agricultural region and many of the people are ethnic Armenians who speak limited Armenian, Russian, and Georgian.
Before the election, the Associated Press traveled to the district where voters proposed it be located Instructions on how to vote by local officials. Many questioned why Georgia needed a relationship with Europe, and suggested that it would be better for it to ally itself with Moscow.
Associated Press journalists Sofiko Megrelidze, in Tbilisi, and Raf Casert, in Brussels, contributed to this report.
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