Issued on: 28.10.2024 – 03:54Modified: 28.10.2024 – 03:52

4 min

Pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili on Sunday accused Moscow of orchestrating election fraud, calling it a “special Russian operation”.

Amid angry opposition claims about the result, Zurabishvili called for a rally on Monday. Jailed former president Mikheil Saakashvili also called for mass protests.

The European Union has warned that Saturday’s vote, seen as a crucial test of democracy in the Caucasus country, could determine Tbilisi’s chances of joining the bloc.

EU Council President Charles Michel wrote on social media that Georgian authorities should “quickly, transparently and independently investigate and prosecute electoral irregularities and allegations”.

“These alleged irregularities must be clarified and addressed seriously,” he said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said he supported calls to investigate “election-related violations”, citing reports by international and local observers of “vote-buying and voter intimidation”.

After meeting opposition leaders in Tbilisi, Zurabishvili said there had been a “total falsification of the election”.

“We are witnesses and victims of a Russian special operation, a modern form of hybrid warfare against the Georgian people,” she said.

International observers said Saturday’s election was “marred by an uneven playing field, pressure and tension.”

An EU parliament mission also expressed concern about the “democratic return”, saying it had seen cases of “ballot box tampering” and “physical assault” on observers.

“Fight for Freedom”

Saakashvili, who led the bloodless Rose Revolution in 2003, said on Facebook that opposition lawmakers should give up their parliamentary seats.

“Now is the time for mass protests. We must show the world that we are fighting for freedom and that we are a people who will not tolerate injustice,” he said.

Official tallies from more than 99 percent of precincts showed the ruling Georgian Dream party winning 54 percent of the vote, the main pro-Western opposition coalition on 37.5 percent.

The result gives Georgian Dream 91 seats in the 150-member parliament — enough to govern but short of the supermajority it sought to enact a constitutional ban on all main opposition parties.

“Our victory is impressive,” Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said in a statement, accusing the opposition of “undermining the country’s constitutional order,” casting doubt on his party’s victory.

The government said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, an ally of the ruling party and current holder of the rotating EU presidency, would visit Georgia on Monday and Tuesday.

Orban was quick to congratulate Georgian Dream on an “overwhelming victory” on Saturday after an exit poll showed the government in the lead and before preliminary results had been published.

Another exit poll by US pollster Edison Research projected an opposition victory by an 11% margin.

EU’s hopes ‘diminished’

Opposition parties lined up to denounce the vote.

“This is an attempt to steal Georgia’s future,” said Tina Bokuchava, the leader of Saakashvili’s United National Movement (UNM).

Nika Gvaramia, leader of the liberal Akhali party, called the way the vote was conducted “a constitutional coup” by the government.

Analyst Gela Vasadze of the Center for Strategic Analysis of Georgia said the country was plunging “into political instability for an indefinite period” and that its hopes in the EU “have faded”.

He said, however, that the opposition lacked “charismatic leaders who could channel popular anger into a wave of protests capable of bringing about political change.”

“Global War Party”

Georgia has been gripped by mass demonstrations this year against what the opposition saw as government attempts to curtail democratic freedoms and turn the country of four million away from its pro-Western course and towards Russia.

In power since 2012, Georgian Dream initially pursued a pro-Western liberal policy agenda.

But it has reversed in the last two years.

His campaign centered on a conspiracy theory about a “global war party” controlling Western institutions and trying to drag Georgia into the Russia-Ukraine war.

In a country scarred by Russia’s 2008 invasion, the party offered voters stories of an imminent threat of war that only the Georgian Dream could avert.

Georgian Dream’s controversial “foreign influence” law, which targeted civil society, sparked weeks of street protests and was criticized as a Kremlin-style move to silence dissent.

The move prompted Brussels to freeze Georgia’s EU accession process, while Washington imposed sanctions on dozens of Georgian officials.

In a campaign against sexual minorities, the ruling party has passed measures banning LGBTQ “propaganda”, canceling same-sex marriages performed abroad and banning gender reassignment.

© 2024 AFP