The Georgian opposition called for protests on Monday and the European Union demanded an investigation into “irregularities” after a disputed legislative vote that showed a victory for the ruling party accused of approaching the orbit of Russia.
Pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili on Sunday accused Moscow of orchestrating election fraud, calling it a “Russian special operation.”
Amid angry opposition claims about the result, Zurabishvili called for a rally on Monday. Jailed former president Mikheil Saakashvili also called for mass protests.
The European Union had warned that Saturday’s vote, seen as a crucial test of democracy in the Caucasus countrycould determine Tbilisi’s chances of joining the bloc.
EU Council President Charles Michel wrote on social media that Georgian authorities should “quickly, transparently and independently investigate and prosecute electoral irregularities and allegations thereof.”
“These alleged irregularities must be clarified and seriously addressed,” he said.
US asks to investigate
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said he supported calls for investigations into “election-related violations”, citing reports from international and local observers of “vote buying and voter intimidation”.
After meeting opposition leaders in Tbilisi, Zurabishvili said there had been a “complete falsification of the elections.”
“Total falsification of the elections”
“We are witnesses and victims of a Russian special operation, a modern form of hybrid war against the Georgian people,” he said.
International observers said Saturday’s elections were “marred by an uneven playing fieldpressure and tension.
An EU Parliament mission also expressed concern about a “democratic backslide”, saying it had seen cases of “ballot box stuffing” and “physical attacks” on observers.
Saakashvili, who led the bloodless Rose Revolution in 2003, said on Facebook that opposition lawmakers should give up their parliamentary seats.
«Now is the time for mass protests. We must show the world that we are fighting for freedom and that we are a people who will not tolerate injustice,” he said.
Official recounts from more than 99 percent of electoral districts showed that the ruling party Georgian Dream won 54 percent of the votewhile the main pro-Western opposition coalition obtained 37.5 percent.
The result gives Georgian Dream 91 seats in the 150-member parliament, enough to govern but far from the supermajority it had sought to pass a constitutional ban on all major opposition parties.
«Impressive victory»
“Our victory is impressive,” Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said in a statement, accusing the opposition of “undermining the country’s constitutional order” by questioning his party’s victory.
The government said that the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, ally of the ruling party and current holder of the rotating EU presidency, I would visit Georgia on Monday and Tuesday.
Orban was quick to congratulate Georgian Dream on an “overwhelming victory” on Saturday after an exit poll showed the government in the lead and before preliminary results were published.
Contrary result to the surveys
Another exit poll by American pollster Edison Research had projected an opposition victory by a margin of 11 percent.
Opposition parties lined up to denounce the vote.
«This is a attempt to steal Georgia’s future“said Tina Bokuchava, leader of Saakashvili’s United National Movement (MNU).
Nika Gvaramia, leader of the liberal Akhali party, called the way the vote was held “a constitutional coup” by the government.
Analyst Gela Vasadze of Georgia’s Center for Strategic Analysis said the country was sinking “into political instability for an indefinite period” and its hopes in the EU had been “dimmed”.
He said, however, that the opposition lacked “charismatic leaders who could channel anger popular in a wave of protests capable of provoking political change.
Year of massive protests
Georgia was wracked by mass demonstrations this year against what the opposition saw as the government’s attempts to restrict democratic freedoms and divert the country of four million from its pro-Western course and closer to Russia.
In power since 2012, Georgian Dream initially pursued a pro-Western liberal political agenda.
But in the last two years it has changed course.
His campaign centered on a conspiracy theory about a “global war party” that controls Western institutions and seeks to drag Georgia into the war between Russia and Ukraine.
in a country marked by the Russian invasion of 2008the party has offered voters ghostly stories about an imminent threat of war, which only the Georgian Dream could avert.
The controversial Georgian Dream “foreign influence” lawwhich targeted civil society, sparked weeks of street protests and was criticized as a Kremlin-style measure to silence dissent.
The move led Brussels to freeze Georgia’s EU accession process, while Washington imposed sanctions on dozens of Georgian officials.
In a campaign against sexual minorities, the ruling party has adopted measures banning “LGBTQ propaganda”, annulling same-sex marriages celebrated abroad and prohibiting gender reassignment.
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