Georgia said it would recount some votes from its contested parliamentary election as opposition parties demanded a full re-run under international oversight and the European Union said the strategic Black Sea state faced a “very worrying” situation.
Tens of thousands of protesters rallied on Monday night in the capital, Tbilisi, after official results gave the ruling Georgian Dream party 54 per cent of votes in Saturday’s parliamentary election, well clear of four opposition parties on a combined total of 38 per cent.
Opposition leaders say the results were skewed by ballot stuffing, vote buying and other forms of fraud, as well as intimidation and violence, in what they call further evidence of Georgian Dream’s move towards Russian-style autocracy and closer ties with Moscow.
Georgian Dream insists the election was clean and says it is committed to EU membership, while accusing the opposition and its alleged western backers of trying to destabilise the country of 3.7 million people and drag it into conflict with the Kremlin.
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The central election commission announced on Tuesday that it would recount ballots from a random selection of about 14 per cent of the country’s polling stations.
“By itself, I expect nothing from the central electoral commission, which is completely in the hands of the party that’s in power,” Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili, a fierce government critic, told Radio France Internationale.
“But one path, with the help and support of European and US partners ... would be that this would be supported by an international investigation,” she added.
All opposition groups have said they will boycott the new parliament and called for the elections to be run again under the control of international administrators.
“When the elections were not falsified by one per cent or two per cent but completely hijacked, the only demand that can be rational ... is the holding of repeat elections, which will not be conducted by the central election commission controlled by [Georgian Dream],” said Tina Bokuchava, head of the United National Movement.
Senior Georgian Dream member Shalva Papuashvili insisted the election was clean and said 1.12 million people had voted for his party’s priorities of peace – meaning above all non-confrontation with Russia – and economic growth.
“Do you think [those] people are going to let someone take their vote away? Of course not. The task of the government is precisely this, not to give anyone the opportunity to take away the votes of the citizens of Georgia and to overturn the democratic choice of this country. This choice is clear.”
The EU gave Georgia candidate status last year but halted the process this summer after the government limited LGBT+ rights, tightened control over civil society groups and ramped up anti-western rhetoric as the elections approached.
“The developments in Georgia ... are very worrying,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. “International observers reported violations during the election campaign as well as on election day... Those irregularities must be addressed swiftly, transparently and independently.”
Senior EU affairs officials from several member states, including Ireland, have called for an inquiry into the alleged violations, while Sweden has halted direct government co-operation with Georgia and Canada is “reassessing” ties with Tbilisi.
The strongest international support for Georgian Dream has come from nationalist Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, who travelled to Tbilisi to congratulate the party.
“Free and democratic elections have been held, but there will still be controversy in Europe,” he said on Tuesday. “You should not take it seriously because it is a common [EU] story... If the liberals win, then it’s democracy, but if the conservatives win, then there was no democracy.”
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