TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia’s president mentioned Sunday she didn’t acknowledge the outcomes of this weekend’s parliamentary vote, which election officers say was received by the ruling occasion, including that the nation fell sufferer to a “Russian special operation” aimed toward transferring it off a path towards Europe.
Standing alongside opposition leaders, President Salome Zourabichvili urged Georgians to rally Monday evening on Tbilisi’s predominant road to protest what she referred to as a “total falsification, a total stealing of your votes,” elevating the prospect of additional political turmoil within the South Caucasus nation.
She spoke the day after an election which might determine whether or not Georgia embraces Europe or falls below the sway of Russia.
“This election cannot be recognized, because it is the recognition of Russia’s intrusion here, Georgia’s subordination to Russia,” Zourabichvili mentioned.
The Central Election Fee mentioned Sunday that the ruling occasion, Georgian Dream, bought 54.8% of Saturday’s vote with nearly 100% of ballots counted.
Georgian Dream has change into more and more authoritarian over the previous yr, adopting legal guidelines much like these utilized by Russia to crack down on freedom of speech. Brussels suspended Georgia’s EU membership course of indefinitely due to a Russian-style “foreign influence law,” handed in June. Many Georgians considered Saturday’s vote as a referendum on the chance to hitch the European Union.
The election marketing campaign within the South Caucasus nation of three.7 million folks, which borders Russia, was dominated by international coverage and marked by a bitter combat for votes and allegations of a smear marketing campaign.
Zourabichvili advised “Russian elections” had been held within the nation, and mentioned “technology was used to whitewash counterfeiting. Such a thing has never happened before.”
European electoral observers mentioned the election happened in a “divisive” setting marked by intimidation and situations of vote shopping for, double voting and bodily violence.
Throughout the marketing campaign, Georgian Dream used “anti-Western and hostile rhetoric … promoted Russian misinformation, manipulations, and conspiracy theories,” mentioned Antonio López-Istúriz White, the top of the European Parliament monitoring delegation.
“Paradoxically, the government further claimed that it was continuing Georgia’s European integration,” he added.
The conduct of the polls, he mentioned, is extra proof that factors to the ruling occasion’s “democratic backsliding.”
President of the European Council Charles Michel mentioned he referred to as on Georgia’s officers to “swiftly, transparently and independently investigate” the electoral irregularities and referred to as on the ruling occasion to show its “firm commitment” to the EU.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, who’s a member of Georgian Dream, on Sunday described his occasion’s victory as “impressive and obvious,” and mentioned “any attempts to talk about election manipulation … are doomed to failure.”
Hungary’s Victor Orbán was the primary international chief to congratulate Georgian Dream and would be the first international chief to go to Georgia and meet the prime minister when he visits the capital for a go to Monday and Tuesday.
Georgian electoral observers, who had been stationed throughout the nation, additionally reported a number of violations and mentioned the outcomes don’t mirror “the will of the Georgian people.”
Within the capital Tbilisi, Tiko Gelashvili, 32, mentioned, “The results that were published are just lies and rigged.”
Preliminary figures advised turnout within the vote was the best since Georgian Dream was first elected in 2012.
The United Nationwide Motion opposition occasion mentioned its headquarters had been attacked on Saturday whereas Georgian media reported two folks had been hospitalized after being attacked exterior polling stations.
“The most important question is whether or not these elections will be recognized by the international community,” mentioned Natia Seskuria, government director of the Regional Institute for Safety Research in Tbilisi. Georgia’s “economic and political prospects” hinge on the election, she mentioned.
Georgians have a posh relationship with Russia, which dominated it from Moscow till Georgia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Russia and Georgia fought a brief battle in 2008, and Moscow nonetheless occupies 20% of Georgia’s territory.
Regardless of that, Georgian Dream has adopted Russia-style legal guidelines and lots of Georgians worry the federal government is distancing the nation from the West and into Moscow’s orbit.
The election observers mentioned situations of intimidation and electoral violations had been notably noticeable in rural areas.
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Georgian Dream scored its highest share of the vote — polling nearly 90% — within the Javakheti area of southern Georgia, 135 kilometers (83 miles) west of the capital. In Tbilisi, it bought not more than than 44% of the vote in any district.
Javakheti is predominantly agricultural and many individuals are ethnic Armenians who communicate Armenian, Russian and restricted Georgian. Earlier than the election, the AP traveled to the area the place voters advised they had been instructed how one can vote by native officers. A number of questioned why Georgia wanted a relationship with Europe and advised it could be higher off allied with Moscow.
Related Press journalists Sophiko Megrelidze, in Tbilisi, and Raf Casert, in Brussels, contributed to this report
