Georgia’s EU-friendly president Salome Zourabichvili says that the country has become the victim of a “Russian special operation” in connection with the election, AP reports.
She says she does not recognize the election result, in which the pro-Russian ruling Georgian Dream party won with 54 percent of the vote, calling it a “total falsification and total theft” of citizens’ votes.
– We are witnesses and victims of a Russian special operation, a modern form of hybrid warfare against the Georgian people, she says according to AFP.
Zourabichvili calls on citizens to go out in protest on the main street of Tbilisi at 19:00 on Monday night.
Refuting cheating allegations
Georgia’s electoral authority announced on Sunday that the ruling Georgian Dream party received 54 percent of the vote after Saturday’s election. There have been allegations of electoral fraud, and election observers have testified to several cases of violations such as intimidation and violence in connection with the election.
Election observers for the International Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) also confirmed at a press conference on Sunday that there were incidents of electoral fraud.
EU Council President Charles Michel has called on the country’s electoral authority to quickly investigate the allegations, reports AFP.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze refutes allegations of electoral fraud and violence in an interview with BBC.
– Irregularities happen everywhere, he says.
The opposition party: Stolen election
Tina Bokuchava, leader of the opposition party UNM, opposes the result and claims electoral fraud.
We do not recognize the falsified results in the stolen election, Bokuchava said on Saturday evening.
The electoral authority in the country has also been criticized for being far too close to the government and for rushing through an electoral reform before the election, writes the BBC.
The election has been described as a fateful choice, where the result is judged to determine whether the country is governed closer to the EU or Russia.