Georgian president says Russia meddled in parliamentary elections : NPR

On this picture taken from video, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, left, speaks to the media as speaks to the media as and Nana Malashkhia, who leads the Coalition for Change parliament record, proper, stands close to, after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Sunday.

Kostya Manenkov/AP

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Kostya Manenkov/AP

TBILISI, Georgia — Georgia’s president stated Sunday she didn’t acknowledge the outcomes of this weekend’s parliamentary vote, which election officers say was received by the ruling get together, including that the nation fell sufferer to a “Russian particular operation” aimed toward shifting it off a path towards Europe.

Standing alongside opposition leaders, President Salome Zourabichvili urged Georgians to rally Monday night time on Tbilisi’s principal avenue to protest what she known as a “whole falsification, a complete stealing of your votes,” elevating the prospect of additional political turmoil within the South Caucasus nation.

She spoke the day after an election that might resolve whether or not Georgia embraces Europe or falls beneath the sway of Russia.

“This election can’t be acknowledged, as a result of it’s the recognition of Russia’s intrusion right here, Georgia’s subordination to Russia,” Zourabichvili stated.

Members of an election fee rely ballots at a polling station after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia on Saturday.

Kostya Manenkov/AP

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Kostya Manenkov/AP

The Central Election Fee stated Sunday that the ruling get together, Georgian Dream, received 54.8% of Saturday’s vote with virtually all ballots counted.

Georgian Dream has change into more and more authoritarian over the previous yr, adopting legal guidelines just like these utilized by Russia to crack down on speech. Brussels suspended Georgia’s EU membership course of indefinitely due to a Russian-style “international affect legislation,” handed in June. Many Georgians seen Saturday’s vote as a referendum on the chance to hitch the European Union.

The election marketing campaign within the South Caucasus nation of three.7 million folks, which borders Russia, was dominated by international coverage and marked by a bitter combat for votes and allegations of a smear marketing campaign.

Zourabichvili instructed “Russian elections” have been held within the nation, and stated “know-how was used to whitewash counterfeiting. Such a factor has by no means occurred earlier than.”

European electoral observers stated the election occurred in a “divisive” atmosphere marked by intimidation and situations of vote shopping for, double voting and bodily violence.

In the course of the marketing campaign, Georgian Dream used “anti-Western and hostile rhetoric … promoted Russian misinformation, manipulations, and conspiracy theories,” stated Antonio López-Istúriz White, the pinnacle of the European Parliament monitoring delegation.

“Paradoxically, the federal government additional claimed that it was persevering with Georgia’s European integration,” he added.

The conduct of the polls, he stated, is extra proof that factors to the ruling get together’s “democratic backsliding.”

Billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, chief of the created by him the Georgian Dream get together greets demonstrators throughout a rally in Tbilisi, Georgia, on April 29, 2024.

Shakh Aivazov/AP

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Shakh Aivazov/AP

President of the European Council Charles Michel stated he known as on Georgia’s officers to “swiftly, transparently and independently examine” the electoral irregularities and known as on the ruling get together to show its “agency dedication” to the EU.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, who’s a member of Georgian Dream, on Sunday described his get together’s victory as “spectacular and apparent,” and stated “any makes an attempt to speak about election manipulation … are doomed to failure.”

Hungary’s Victor Orbán was the primary international chief to congratulate Georgian Dream and would be the first international chief to go to Georgia and meet the prime minister when he visits the capital for a go to Monday and Tuesday.

Georgian electoral observers, who have been stationed throughout the nation, additionally reported a number of violations and stated the outcomes don’t mirror “the desire of the Georgian folks.”

Within the capital Tbilisi, Tiko Gelashvili, 32, stated, “The outcomes that have been printed are simply lies and rigged.”

Preliminary figures instructed turnout within the vote was the best since Georgian Dream was first elected in 2012.

The United Nationwide Motion opposition get together stated its headquarters have been attacked on Saturday whereas Georgian media reported two folks have been hospitalized after being attacked outdoors polling stations.

“A very powerful query is whether or not or not these elections will likely be acknowledged by the worldwide neighborhood,” stated Natia Seskuria, government director of the Regional Institute for Safety Research in Tbilisi. Georgia’s “financial and political prospects” hinge on the election, she stated.

Nana Malashkhia, who leads the Coalition for Change parliament record, heart, speaks to the media at coalition’s headquarters after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia on Sunday.

Zurab Tsertsvadze/AP

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Zurab Tsertsvadze/AP

Georgians have a posh relationship with Russia, which dominated it from Moscow till Georgia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Russia and Georgia fought a brief struggle in 2008, and Moscow nonetheless occupies 20% of Georgia’s territory.

Regardless of that, Georgian Dream has adopted Russia-style legal guidelines and plenty of Georgians worry the federal government is distancing the nation from the West and into Moscow’s orbit.

The election observers stated situations of intimidation and electoral violations have been significantly noticeable in rural areas.

Georgian Dream scored its highest share of the vote — polling virtually 90% — within the Javakheti area of southern Georgia, 135 kilometers (83 miles) west of the capital. In Tbilisi, it received not more than than 44% of the vote in any district.

Javakheti is predominantly agricultural and many individuals are ethnic Armenians who communicate Armenian, Russian and restricted Georgian. Earlier than the election, the AP traveled to the area the place voters instructed they have been instructed how one can vote by native officers. A number of questioned why Georgia wanted a relationship with Europe and instructed it will be higher off allied with Moscow.