Article content

TBILISI, Georgia — Georgia’s president said Sunday she does not recognize the results of this weekend’s parliamentary vote, which election officials say was won by the ruling party, adding that the country was a victim of a “Russian special operation” aimed at moving him from one place to another. way to Europe.

Article content

Alongside opposition leaders, President Salome Zourabichvili urged Georgians to gather on Tbilisi’s main street on Monday evening to protest what she called a “total falsification, a total theft of your votes.” raising the prospect of further political unrest in the South Caucasus country.

She was speaking a day after elections that could decide whether Georgia embraces Europe or falls to Russia.

“This election cannot be recognized, because it constitutes recognition of Russia’s intrusion here, of Georgia’s subordination to Russia,” Zurabichvili said.

The Central Election Commission said on Sunday that the ruling Georgian Dream party received 54.8% of the vote on Saturday, with almost all ballots counted.

Article content

Article content

Georgian Dream has become increasingly authoritarian over the past year, passing laws similar to those used by Russia to suppress free speech. Brussels has indefinitely suspended Georgia’s EU accession process due to a Russian-style “foreign influence law” adopted in June. Many Georgians viewed Saturday’s vote as a referendum on whether to join the European Union.

The election campaign in the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million people, which borders Russia, was dominated by foreign policy and marked by a bitter fight for votes and allegations of a smear campaign.

Article content

Zourabichvili suggested that “Russian elections” had taken place in the country and said “technology was being used to launder counterfeiting.” Such a thing has never happened before.

European election observers said the election took place in a “divisive” environment marked by intimidation and instances of vote buying, double voting and physical violence.

During the campaign, Georgian Dream used “anti-Western and hostile rhetoric… to promote Russian disinformation, manipulation and conspiracy theories,” said Antonio Lopez-Isturiz White, head of the parliament monitoring delegation. European.

“Paradoxically, the government has further claimed that it is pursuing Georgia’s European integration,” he added.

Article content

The conduct of the elections, he said, was further proof of the ruling party’s “democratic retreat.”

European Council President Charles Michel called on Georgian officials to “promptly, transparently and independently investigate” election irregularities and called on the ruling party to demonstrate its “firm commitment” to the EU.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, a member of Georgian Dream, on Sunday called his party’s victory “impressive and obvious” and said that “any attempt to talk about electoral manipulation… is doomed to failure.”

Hungarian Victor 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 during his visit to the capital on Monday and Tuesday.

Article content

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Play video

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, said: “The results that have been published are nothing but lies and rigged.”

Early figures suggest that voter turnout was the highest since Georgian Dream’s first election in 2012.

The opposition United National Movement party said its headquarters was attacked on Saturday while Georgian media reported that two people were hospitalized after being attacked outside polling stations.

“The most important question is whether or not these elections will be recognized by the international community,” said Natia Seskuria, executive director of the Tbilisi Regional Institute for Security Studies. Georgia’s “economic and political prospects” depend on the elections, she said.

Article content

Georgians have a complex relationship with Russia, which ruled them from Moscow until Georgia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Russia and Georgia fought a short war in 2008, and Moscow occupies still 20% of Georgian territory.

Despite this, Georgian Dream has adopted Russian-style laws and many Georgians fear that the government will push the country away from the West and into Moscow’s orbit.

Election observers said cases of intimidation and electoral violations were particularly visible in rural areas.

Georgian Dream received its highest vote share – with almost 90% of the polls – in the Javakheti region of southern Georgia, 135 km west of the capital. In Tbilisi, he received only 44% of the votes in all constituencies.

Javakheti is mainly agricultural and many people are of Armenian origin and speak Armenian, Russian and partly Georgian. Before the election, the AP visited the area where voters suggested local officials had told them how to vote. Many have questioned why Georgia needs a relationship with Europe and suggested that it would benefit from allying itself with Moscow.

— Associated Press journalists Sophiko Megrelidze in Tbilisi and Raf Casert in Brussels contributed to this report.

Article content