Georgia’s opposition has called for street protests on Monday after accusing the ruling Georgian Dream party of rigging parliamentary elections and turning the strategic Black Sea state towards Russia and away from future European Union membership.
Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili met opposition leaders on Sunday and backed their call for demonstrations after nearly complete results gave Georgian Dream 54 per cent of votes and an alliance of opposition parties 38 per cent; two of three main exit polls following Saturday’s ballot had pointed towards an opposition victory.
Describing the elections as “blatant fraud” and a “Russian special operation”, Ms Zourabichvili urged compatriots to join her at a rally in central Tbilisi on Monday evening to show “that we do not accept these results. Let us demonstrate our commitment to a future free from foreign control and aligned with the values of Europe.”
Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, who is in jail after being convicted of abuse of power in what he and allies call political persecution by Georgian Dream, said: “We have to claim back our country from this traitorous government.”
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Tina Bokuchava, who leads the United National Movement (UNM) that Mr Saakashvili founded and which ruled from 2004-2012, said “we will not recognise the results of these stolen elections” and vowed that Georgians “will fight like never before to reclaim our European future”.
Nika Gvaramia, a leader of the Coalition for Change opposition group, said: “Our unequivocal decision is that Georgian Dream will not remain in power, it’s a constitutional coup.”
The ruling party, led by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, said the election was clean and voters had chosen peace, after a campaign in which they claimed that the country of 3.7 million risked being dragged into conflict with Russia by a western “global party of war” operating in league with the opposition.
“Georgian people made the only choice – they have chosen peace and the country’s development,” said prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze.
He dismissed opposition claims of electoral foul play as “desperate attempts by politicians to somehow justify themselves to their voters” and said “any attempts to challenge the constitutional order of the country” were unacceptable.
Mr Kobakhidze insisted that EU accession remained the “main foreign priority” for Georgian Dream and predicted a “restart” and “significant improvement in our relations with both the EU and US” early next year. The party is widely seen as hoping that Donald Trump will win next month’s US presidential election.
Senior parliamentarians from several European Union states, including Ireland’s Charles Flanagan, said in a joint statement that the elections were “neither free nor fair” and that the bloc “cannot recognise the result”.
Georgia’s relations with the EU and US have unravelled in recent years, as its government has improved ties with Russia despite its full invasion of Ukraine and accused the West of meddling in its affairs. Mr Ivanishvili has threatened to ban the UNM and prosecute opponents after the election.
The EU halted Georgia’s accession process this year after it limited LGBT+ rights and tightened controls over civil society groups. Brussels also warned that Georgians could lose visa-free access to EU states if the election was badly flawed.
“While the campaign offered voters a wide choice … that is not enough to bring an election in line with international democratic principles,” said Eoghan Murphy, head of the observation mission from the ODIHR unit of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
“The deep polarisation in the country, the undue pressure on voters and civil society, and the tension that we saw on election day demonstrate that much work is still needed,” the former Fine Gael government minister added.
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