Georgia’s pro-European opposition disputes the results of today’s legislative elections in the country and refuses to recognize the defeat, attributing it to “distorted results of stolen elections.”
According to the Georgian Central Election Commission, the Georgian Dream party won with 52.99%, with the majority of votes counted.
The pro-European opposition’s refusal to accept the results was announced after authorities said the ruling Georgian Dream party was leading the vote.
“We do not recognize the distorted results of stolen elections,” declared Tina Bokuchava, leader of the United National Movement (MNU), at a press conference.
The leader of the Akhali party, also in opposition, denounced “a usurpation of power and a constitutional coup”.
Today’s elections in Georgia are considered by experts as fundamental to whether in the future the country turns to the West and enters the European Union (EU) or falls back into Russia’s orbit.
Many Georgians saw the vote as a decisive referendum on whether to join the European Union (EU). Early figures suggest that voter turnout was the highest since the ruling Georgian Dream party was first elected in 2012.
The opposition initially declared victory shortly after polls closed at 20:00 local time (16:00 GMT).
If the victory of the Georgian Dream is confirmed, the party will have a parliamentary majority that will fuel fears about the country’s bid to join the European Union, as the party has become increasingly authoritarian, adopting laws similar to those used by Russia to suppress freedom of expression.
Following the approval of one of these laws earlier this year, Brussels suspended Georgia’s EU membership process.
Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of the Georgian Dream, claimed victory almost immediately after the polls closed and said: “It is rare in the world for the same party to achieve such success in such a difficult situation.”
Tina Bokuchava, president of the opposition party United National Movement, accused the Central Election Commission of carrying out Ivanishvili’s “dirty order” and stated that he “robbed the Georgian people of victory and, consequently, stole the European future”.
The deputy stated that the opposition will not recognize the results and that it will “fight like never before” to recover the European future.
Georgian election observers, who deployed thousands of people across the country to monitor the vote, stated that there were multiple violations and that the results “do not correspond to the will of the Georgian people”.
The pre-election campaign in the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million people, which borders Russia, was dominated by foreign policy and marked by a heated fight for votes and allegations of a smear campaign.
Some Georgians complained of intimidation and being pressured into voting for the Georgian Dream, while the opposition accused the party of waging a “hybrid war” against its citizens.
The largest opposition party, the United National Movement, said its headquarters were targeted on election day.
Georgian media also reported that two people were hospitalized after being attacked outside polling stations, one in the western city of Zugdidi and the other in Marneuli, a city south of the capital, Tbilisi.
There were also reports of multiple voting irregularities. A video shared on social media today on Saturday also showed a man placing ballots in a box at a polling station in Marneuli.
The Georgian Ministry of the Interior stated that it had opened an investigation and the Central Election Commission indicated that a criminal case had been opened and that all results from the polling station would be declared invalid.
Ahead of the parliamentary elections, Ivanishvili – the shadowy billionaire who created the Georgian Dream and made his fortune in Russia – promised again to ban opposition parties if his party wins.
According to polls, around 80% of Georgians are in favor of joining the EU and the country’s Constitution obliges its leaders to join that bloc and NATO.
