A partial recount after legislative elections in Georgia confirms the victory of the ruling party, according to the election commission

A partial recount of votes in legislative elections in Georgia confirmed the victory of the ruling party, the electoral commission informed AFP this Thursday, after the opposition claimed the vote was “stolen”, prompting international criticism.

The Central Election Commission told AFP that the recount of about 12% of polling stations and 14% of ballots after the weekend election “does not lead to any significant change in the previously announced official results”.

The agency said “the final count changed only slightly in about 9% of the precincts” where a new count was conducted.

The Georgian Dream party, in power since 2012, won Saturday’s legislative elections in this former Soviet republic in the Caucasus, but the opposition does not recognize the results.

Before the recount, the Election Commission announced that Georgian Dream received approximately 53.92% of the votes and the opposition received 37.78%.

The country’s president, Salome Zurabishvili, who is pro-Western and opposed to the government, said that “sophisticated” fraud methods were used in the elections, according to her, similar to those used in Russia.

The prosecutor’s office launched an investigation Wednesday into “alleged rigging” in the elections and summoned the president, who did not appear.

International observers pointed to irregularities during the election and the European Union called for an investigation into the allegations.

These elections were regarded as a test of Georgia’s aspirations to join the European Union and NATO.

The Georgian Dream party claims it wants to join these factions, but its critics accuse it of authoritarian drift and closeness to Russia.

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