After some dismay following the announcement of victory in the legislative elections of the ruling ‘Georgian Dream’ party, which its detractors accuse of being pro-Russian, the parties in favor of the European integration of this small Caucasian country have coordinated to increase the pressure – through the street.
Several thousand people gathered in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, as President Salome Zourabichvili and representatives of opposition parties addressed the public after Saturday’s disputed elections.
According to journalists present on site, crowds blocked the main Rustaveli avenue in the capital before their speech.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili rejected the victory of the ruling Georgian Dream partyearlier today, and called on international partners to support Georgia, calling the elections “illegitimate” and their result “completely falsified.”
“It’s time to defend your vote,” Zourabichvili told protesters
“ You didn’t lose the election, your vote was stolen and they tried to steal your future “, she insisted in front of the crowd largely won over to her arguments.
Opposition political parties that participated in the protest rally claim that the October 26 legislative elections were “rigged.” They are demanding new elections in Georgia, which should be organized by the international electoral administration.
Georgian Dream declared victory on Sundayamid reports of voting violations. The electoral commission subsequently announced that the party had obtained almost 54% of the votes. The four main opposition parties announced that they did not recognize the results.
The parliamentary elections have been described as crucial for Georgia’s future, determining whether the country will continue to seek EU membership or move closer to Russia.
Violations and irregularities
A video shared on social media on Saturday shows a man appearing to insert several ballots into a ballot box at a polling station in the town of Marneuli, 42 kilometers south of Tbilisi.
The Georgia Interior Ministry said it had opened an investigation, and the Central Election Commission announced that a criminal case had been opened and that all polling station results would be declared invalid.
Local media also filmed several scuffles.
Footage filmed by TV Pirveli in Tbilisi shows several men participating in a brawl outside the polling station.
TV Pirveli reported that the men were apparently supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream party and had tried to provoke an incident.
Georgian Dream denied any involvement in the incident.
The election is highly divisive as many citizens view it as a decisive vote on whether to join the European Union.
ADVERTISEMENTThe pre-election campaign in this South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million people, bordering Russia, was dominated by foreign policy and marked by a bitter fight for votes and allegations of a smear campaign.
Some Georgians have complained of intimidation and pressure to vote for the ruling Georgian Dream party, while the opposition has accused the party of waging a “hybrid war” against its citizens.
Another “peace mission” from Orbán?
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán made a surprise visit to Georgia on Monday, after reacting against the grain to the country’s disputed elections.
The Hungarian leader played the role of spoilsport showing unity in confronting Russia over its war in Ukraine. Today, another point of contention emerged in the disputed election result in Georgiawhere the opposition alleges that the ruling populist party rigged the votes.
ADVERTISEMENTMr Orbán, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest partner in the EU and the longest-serving European leader, currently holds the rotating presidency of the EUwhich is often the Union’s global mouthpiece and which Mr Orbán has used in a way that highlights internal divisions.
European institutions spent much of the weekend mulling over a diplomatic statement that would show their dissatisfaction with the claimed victory of the Georgian Dream partywhich they say is increasingly leaning toward Moscow and away from Brussels, even though many residents of the former Soviet nation favor EU membership.
But Mr Orbán, increasingly seen as Mr Putin’s voice within the Union, pre-empted EU statements even before all the votes were counted and congratulated “the Georgian Dream party on its landslide victory”adding that Georgians “know what is best for their country and have made their voices heard.”
The EU statement, released later, calls on the Georgian authorities to “fulfill their duty to investigate quickly, transparently and independently” on allegations of electoral fraud.
ADVERTISEMENTBrussels was also careful to downplay the significance of Orbán’s Caucasian visit by insisting that his trip to Tbilisi “takes place exclusively within the framework of bilateral relations between Hungary and Georgia”, according to a European Commission spokesperson Monday. “Prime Minister Orbán has not received any mandate from the EU Council to visit Tbilisi.”
