Georgia’s president has claimed her country has fallen victim to a Russian ‘special operation’ after a pro-Putin party won yesterday’s elections.
President Salome Zourabichvili stood side by side with the Georgian opposition, saying she did not recognize the outcome and calling on protesters to take to the streets.
The country’s Central Election Commission said Georgian Dream, led by pro-Putin oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, won 54.8% of the vote on Saturday, with almost 100% of votes counted. After a divisive election campaign, early figures suggested turnout is the highest since the ruling party was first elected in 2012.
Georgian election observers, who had stationed thousands of people across the country to monitor the vote, reported multiple violations and said the results “do not reflect the will of the Georgian people.”
Now President Zourabichvili has pointed the finger at Putin and accused Russia of meddling in elections that could determine Georgia’s place in Europe for a generation.
President Salome Zourabichvili (pictured) stood side by side with the Georgian opposition, saying they did not recognize the outcome and calling on protesters to take to the streets.
Billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, leader of the Georgian Dream party he created greets protesters during a rally in Tbilisi, Georgia, on April 29, 2024
Georgian Dream is accused of having a pro-Putin bias
Calling on Georgians to take to the streets of the capital Tbilisi tomorrow evening, she said the result was a “total falsification, total theft of your votes.”
Georgian Dream has become increasingly authoritarian and has passed laws similar to those used by Russia to crack down on freedom of expression. Brussels indefinitely suspended Georgia’s EU membership process due to a ‘Russian law’ passed in June.
Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder of Georgian Dream who made his fortune in Russia, claimed victory almost immediately after the polls closed, saying: “It is rare in the world that the same party achieves such success in such a” a difficult situation.’ He had promised before the elections that he would ban opposition parties if his party won.
Tina Bokuchava, the chairman of the opposition United National Movement party, accused the election commission of carrying out Ivanishvili’s “dirty order” and said he had “stolen the victory of the Georgian people and with it the European future.”
She indicated that the opposition would not recognize the results and “will fight like never before to reclaim our European future.”
The UNM party said its headquarters were attacked on Saturday, while Georgian media reported two people were hospitalized after being attacked outside polling stations.
The election campaign in the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million, which borders Russia, has been dominated by foreign policy and marked by a bitter battle for votes and accusations of a smear campaign.
Some Georgians complained of intimidation and pressure to vote for the ruling party.
The Mail reported clear evidence of a blatant attempt to manipulate the proceedings. Footage showed coaches full of villagers being given money to vote and brawls breaking out with bloody election observers.
Supporters of the Georgian Dream Party celebrate the exit poll results outside the new Georgian Dream headquarters during Georgian Election Day on October 26, 2024 in Tbilisi, Georgia
From left: Georgian national, EU and Ukrainian national flags hang at a polling station during the parliamentary elections in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, October 26, 2024
Citizens of Georgia participate in the parliamentary elections on October 26, 2024 in Tbilisi, Georgia
A Georgian woman casts her vote during parliamentary elections at a polling station in Tbilisi, Georgia, October 26, 2024
Opposition parties hope to dispel the Georgian Dream, which they say is working with Putin (pictured) and has introduced authoritarian legislation that mimics Russian law.
A video circulated of an opposition election observer being brutally beaten at a polling station in Marneuli. The victim is currently in hospital.
In another clip, a representative of Georgian Dream, Rovshan Iskandarov, was seen apparently putting dozens of ballots into a ballot box.
Georgians reported that their briefs had been tampered with. One showed that one party had been checked, meaning the vote would be invalid if they checked a separate box.
Others posted videos of multiple ballots included in one ballot, while foreign journalists critical of the regime were denied entry into Georgia.
Georgian Dream achieved the highest share of the vote (almost 90%) in the Javakheti region in southern Georgia, 133 kilometers west of the capital Tbilisi, where it did not win more than 44% of the vote in any district.
According to opinion polls, about 80% of Georgians support joining the EU, and the country’s constitution obliges its leaders to pursue membership of that bloc and NATO.
Many fear that the Georgian Dream will drag the country towards authoritarianism and extinguish hopes of joining the EU.
The ruling Georgian Dream party switched to openly supporting Moscow after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, despite the country being the most pro-Western country in the region.
