TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia's president on Monday urged the West to support opposition protests against the official results of a weekend parliamentary election in which the governing party was declared victorious amid voting irregularities and a
TBILISI, Georgia — Georgia's president on Monday urged the West to support opposition protests against the official results of a weekend parliamentary election in which the governing party was declared victorious amid voting irregularities and allegations of Russian meddling.
On Sunday, Zourabichvili stood alongside opposition leaders and urged Georgians to join a rally on the main street of the capital, Tbilisi, on Monday night to protest what she called a “total falsification, a total stealing of your votes.”“We need to have the firm support of our European partners, of our American partners,” Zourabichvili said.
The Central Election Commission said Sunday that the governing Georgian Dream party received 54.8% of Saturday’s votes with almost all ballots counted. The party — established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia — has become increasingly authoritarian over the past year, adopting laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech.
During the campaign, Georgian Dream used “anti-Western and hostile rhetoric ... promoted Russian misinformation, manipulations, and conspiracy theories,” said Antonio López-Istúriz White, the head of the European Parliament monitoring delegation. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, a member of Georgian Dream, on Sunday described his party’s success as “impressive and obvious,” and that “any attempts to talk about election manipulation ... are doomed to failure.”
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