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Legislative elections in Georgia: the opposition denounces a “stolen” vote and calls for demonstrations

The pro-European opposition is calling demonstrations for this Monday, October 28, in Georgia to denounce, according to them, legislative elections “stolen” by the ruling party. President Salomé Zourabichvili speaks of a “Russian operation.”

According to the almost final results announced by the electoral commission, the Georgian Dream, active since 2012 in the former Soviet Republic of the Caucasus, obtained 54.08% of the votes on Sunday afternoon, compared to 37.58% for the coalition pro-Caucasian EU. .

The opposition, which had initially proclaimed its victory based on Saturday’s exit polls, refuses to acknowledge its defeat against a party it accuses of pro-Russian authoritarian drift. Denouncing “stolen legislation” by the ruling party, he calls for demonstrations this Monday, October 28.

“We are witnesses and victims of a special Russian operation, a modern form of hybrid war against the Georgian people,” declared President Salomé Zourabichvili, for her part, without specifying her accusations, breaking with the Government.

He denounced a “total falsification” of the elections. As of Monday morning, Russia had not reacted to these accusations.

An “institutional coup d’état”

The opposition accuses the ruling party, led by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, of bringing Georgia closer to Moscow and distancing it from potential membership in the European Union and NATO, two goals enshrined in its constitution.

Opposition leaders said the elections had been “stolen” and denounced an “institutional coup.”

Former president Mikheil Saakashvili, now imprisoned and also very critical of the government, also called for “massive demonstrations” to “show the world that we fight for freedom.”

Washington and Brussels, which had warned that the future of EU accession negotiations depended on these elections, requested an investigation into possible electoral fraud.

OSCE international observers spoke of “pressures” and listed a series of dysfunctions, such as “cases of vote buying” or “violations of the secrecy of the vote.”

Viktor Orbán is expected in Tbilisi

A dissenting European voice, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who remains close to Moscow and whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council, is expected to visit Georgia on Monday for a two-day official visit. On Saturday, October 26, he hailed the “overwhelming” victory of the Georgian Dream.

He is scheduled to participate in an official ceremony on Tuesday at the Georgian government headquarters.
According to the voting results, the ruling party should have 91 of the 150 seats in Parliament. A sufficient majority to govern, but below the three-quarters that he wanted to obtain to modify the Constitution and, according to his project, prohibit pro-Western opposition parties.

One of the components of the opposition, the Coalition for Change, stated that it was renouncing its parliamentary mandates so as not to “give legitimacy” to the vote.

According to Mikheil Saakashvili, “no” opposition MP should enter Parliament.

The country is entering “a period of instability,” says Gela Vasadze of the Center for Strategic Analysis on Georgia. But “the opposition lacks charismatic leaders who can channel popular anger,” he continues.

Georgia was rocked in May by large protests against a “foreign influence” law, modeled on Russian legislation on “foreign agents” used to crush civil society. Brussels subsequently froze the EU accession process and the United States imposed sanctions against Georgian officials.

Some Georgian Dream leaders are very critical of Westerners. Bidzina Ivanishvili called them a “global war party” that would treat Georgia, their victim, as “cannon fodder.”

This former Soviet republic is still very marked by a brief war in 2008 with the Russian army. Following its conclusion, Moscow set up military bases in two separatist regions of Georgia: Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russia recognizes its unilaterally proclaimed independence.

The changing world – The interview: Georgia, between Russia and the West – 10/28

7:00

The Georgian Dream thus presented itself as the only one capable of preventing a supposed “Ukrainization” of Georgia, while Ukraine faces a large-scale Russian invasion from February 2022.

Author: CD with AFP
Source: BFM TV

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