Citizens and Georgian Dream Party supporters attend Georgian Dream Party election rallies holding Georgian and Georgian Dream Party flags.
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Massive protests are expected in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi on Monday after the pro-Russian ruling party Georgian Dream won this weekend’s disputed parliamentary election.
The increasingly authoritarian party that has been in power for 12 years claimed to have won another election after Saturday’s vote, but the country’s pro-Western president and opposition parties refused to accept the results, saying the vote was neither free nor fair.
The country’s pro-Western president Salome Zurabishvili reportedly called for public protests in central Tbilisi on Monday night, saying the opposition would not tolerate “electoral fraud” and that “no one can take away Georgia’s European future”. The comments were reported by Georgia’s Interpress news agency.
Georgia Central Election Commission Georgian Dream won 53.9% of the vote, with 99% of precincts across the country counted, it said on its website on Monday. The opposition movement in Georgia is active but fragmented, with the four largest opposition coalitions each receiving around 8-11% of the vote.
Voter polls ahead of the election presented conflicting views of the outcome, as pro-government and pro-opposition television networks aired conflicting exit polls on the election’s preliminary results.
The election is seen as a key moment for the former Soviet republic, and perhaps the most important vote since independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, on whether to choose to stay within Russia’s orbit or continue to pursue Russia. sovereignty.
call for protest
The results were announced by Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and Georgian Dream billionaire founder Bitzina Ivanishvili Demonstrated public support for party policies and vision for GeorgiaOpposition parties were quick to condemn and question the results, saying there was widespread electoral fraud.
“We do not accept the results of these stolen elections,” Tina Bokuchava, leader of Georgia’s main opposition United National Movement, told a news conference late Saturday. A coalition led by the party called the “United National Movement” received 10.1% of the vote.
After the parliamentary elections on October 27, 2024, Tina Bokuchava, chairperson of the opposition United National Movement, issued a media statement at the party’s headquarters in Tbilisi. Georgia’s pro-Western opposition parties have refused to admit fraud in election results that showed the ruling party won parliamentary polls in what is seen as a key test for Tbilisi’s democracy and European ambitions.
Vano Shlamov | AFP | Getty Images
Bokuchava accused Georgian Dream founder Bitzina Ivanishvili of stealing the “European future” of the Georgian people and called on the opposition to unite to restore Georgia’s “European future.”
“We will not accept stolen election results, we will not recognize these stolen results… We will fight like never before for the return of Europe’s future, and we will not accept stolen election results,” she said. Reported by Interpress news agency.
Georgian President Zurabichvili, a staunch critic of the ruling Georgian Dream party, called for mass protests by citizens on Monday night and described the vote as a “Russian special operation”.
“This is a complete fraud and a total deprivation of your votes,” Zolabichvili told reporters, accompanied by Georgia’s opposition leaders, according to Reuters. She called on Georgians to protest in Tbilisi, “Declaring to the world that we do not recognize these elections.”
Timothy Ashe, emerging markets strategist at BlueBay Asset Management, said opposition parties polling best in big cities “can bring huge numbers of people to the streets” in protest. He warned of the possibility of further violence between protesters and security forces, similar to the violence that erupted earlier this year following controversial government policies.
“I expect the ruling Georgian Dream regime to deploy large numbers of security forces and use maximum pressure to combat the demonstrators,” Ashe said in emailed comments, adding that he “would not rule out deploying security forces to Russia.” Support (Georgian Dream founder) Ivanishvili,” he said, describing the election as “the latest pressure point between Russia and the West.”
EU, Washington and Moscow wait and see
The results are likely to cause alarm in Europe and the United States, given the ongoing geopolitical battle with Russia for influence over the former Soviet Union. Georgia’s opposition parties have accused Russia of playing a major role in rigging votes ahead of the election, but Moscow has strongly denied any wrongdoing.
Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov once again said accusations of election interference were “completely baseless.”
“We firmly reject such accusations,” Peskov told reporters on Monday, according to comments reported by TASS and translated by Google. “They have become a standard for many countries, and as soon as the slightest thing happens, they immediately accuse Russia of interference. No. , that is not true, there was no interference and there is absolutely no basis for these accusations,” he said.
Western officials noted that the election was taking place against a backdrop of heightened political polarization, highly divisive campaign rhetoric and widespread reports of voter pressure, but it was also recognized that Georgia’s election day was largely orderly. carried out under the circumstances.
The international election observation mission, led by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), noted on Sunday that its international observers generally reported that Georgia’s elections “were marred by an uneven playing field, pressure and tension, but that voters gained “On the ballot, candidates are generally free to campaign.”
Supporters of the Georgia Dream Party celebrate at the party’s headquarters after the exit poll results for the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, were announced on October 26, 2024.
Irakli Gardens | Reuters
The European Commission also said in a statement that “election day was generally well-organized and well-managed” but that the vote took place in a “tense environment, with frequent compromises on voting secrecy and some procedural inconsistencies.” , as well as reports of voter intimidation and pressure, which have negatively impacted public trust in the process.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a separate statement on Monday morning that the pre-election environment was “marked by the ruling party’s abuse of public resources, vote buying and voter intimidation, all of which contributed to an uneven election outcome.” . environment, undermining public and international trust in the possibility of a fair outcome.
Blinken said the United States joins international and local observers in calling for a full investigation into “all reports of election-related violations,” and called on Georgia’s leaders to “respect the rule of law, repeal legislation that undermines fundamental freedoms, and address flaws in the election.” “. Together with the electoral process. “
Blinken concluded his statement by reminding Tbilisi that Georgia’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration goals “require the government to respect the rights of members of civil society and the fundamental freedoms of all Georgian citizens”.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze speaks after the release of exit poll results for the parliamentary elections at the headquarters of the Georgian Dream party in Tbilisi, Georgia, on October 26, 2024.
Irakli Gardens | Reuters
The extent of Georgia’s commitment to pro-Western integration is unclear.
Prime Minister Kobakhidze said on Monday European integration remains the government’s top foreign policy priority, with the goal of joining the EU in 2030. However, the ruling party’s domestic and foreign policies have become increasingly authoritarian in recent years, contrary to its commitment to consolidate democratic values in line with its aspirations to join the European Union.
In addition to undermining media freedom and LGBT rights, Georgian Dream Russian-style “foreign agent” law introduced this summer, aimed at curbing foreign influence Seen as a further shift towards authoritarian, Kremlin-style rule, the mass protests were met with a harsh police response.
The party initially supported Georgia’s pro-Western line but has since grown cold on that front, enacting anti-democratic policies that drew concern from Brussels and EU accession talks were frozen earlier this year.
“Georgia Dream” campaigned on an anti-war platform, claiming that voting for pro-Western opposition parties would lead Georgia to a direct conflict with Russia, just like Ukraine.
