Georgia is torn between Russia and the EU. It was therefore foreseeable that the election results would be hotly debated. But that’s probably just the beginning.
The pro-European Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has rejected the result of her country’s parliamentary election as “falsified” and blamed a “Russian special operation” for it. “I do not recognize the election results,” Zurabishvili said on Sunday. Saturday’s election was a “total fraud.”
The electoral commission had previously declared the ruling party of the richest and most powerful man in the country, Bidzina Ivanishvili, the winner with almost 54 percent of the vote. This brings the conflict between the pro-Western opposition and the increasingly national-conservative government party to a head in Russia’s small neighboring country in the South Caucasus.
However, President Zurabishvili’s legal options to influence events are limited. It can refuse to convene the new parliament for its constituent session. However, Georgian Dream announced that, according to the constitution, it would meet for the first time ten days later without a president.
Pro-European political elite calls for protests
Zurabishvili called for mass protests on Monday. “We are witnesses and victims of a Russian special operation, a modern form of hybrid war against the Georgian people,” she said, without specifying these allegations.
The imprisoned Georgian opposition politician Mikhail Saakashvili had previously called for widespread protests. “Now is the time for mass protests,” said the former head of government on the online network Facebook. “We must show the world that we are fighting for freedom and that we are a people that will not tolerate injustice,” wrote Saakashvili, who belongs to the main opposition UNM party.
The traditionally divided opposition fears that Georgia, under the leadership of the oligarch who has become rich in Moscow, will turn even more towards its neighbor Russia and finally deviate from its EU course.
EU election observers doubt the result in Georgia
EU Council President Charles Michel called on electoral authorities in Georgia to quickly investigate suspected election irregularities. The central electoral commission and other responsible authorities should “fulfill their duty and investigate and evaluate the irregularities in the elections and the related allegations quickly, transparently and independently,” wrote Michel in the online service X, with reference to reports from international election observers.
The election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and NATO reported in a joint statement that the vote was disrupted by “inequalities (between the candidates), pressure and tensions”. They expressed doubts about the official result. A total of around 3.5 million Georgians at home and abroad were called to vote. The country on the Black Sea has 3.7 million inhabitants and has been a candidate for EU membership since the end of 2023. However, the accession process is on hold due to controversial laws.
Ukraine facing candidate status
Take a seat in the Brussels waiting room: These countries are running for EU membership
On Sunday, after counting the votes in more than 99 percent of the constituencies, the electoral commission declared the ruling Georgian Dream party the winner with 54 percent of the votes, while the pro-Western opposition alliance got 37.58 percent. The alliance describes the official results as “falsified” and claims victory in the election.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
