Georgia’s president does not recognize the election results – DW – 10/27/2024

The President of Georgia, Salome Zurabizvili, this Sunday (10/27/2024) refused to recognize the results of the parliamentary elections held the day before in the Caucasian nation and called on Georgians to protest in front of the parliament this Monday . The president, traditionally aligned with the opposition, said “no one will take away Georgia’s European future” and spoke of “Russian special operations” in reference to Moscow’s interference.

“These elections cannot be recognized, I do not recognize them. Recognizing them means that Russia has entered Georgia. The elections were Russian, they used technologies to justify fraud,” he said in a speech from the presidential palace. Used.”

protest rally on monday

The Central Election Commission today recognized the ruling Georgian Dream party as the winner with 53.92% of the votes after checking all polling stations, which the opposition and the West say is close to the Kremlin. The remaining four opposition groups together received 37.78% of the votes.

Zurabishvili, accompanied by representatives of the main opposition parties, called on Georgian citizens who are dissatisfied with the results of the parliamentary elections to take part in a protest rally in front of the Georgian Parliament this Monday at 7:00 pm (3:00 pm GMT) ). Furthermore, he called on the international community “not to recognize the illegitimate elections and the illegitimate government” and to support the people of Georgia.

He declared, “I represent the only independent institution left in Georgia, I represent the people of Georgia.” He concluded, “Let’s show everyone that we do not recognize these elections.”

EU has demanded investigation into irregularities

EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell called for complaints of electoral irregularities to be investigated, as well as EU Council President Charles Michel, via Ax. A mission of the European Parliament had already expressed concerns about “democratic regression” and said they had witnessed cases of “ballot box stuffing” and “physical attacks” on observers.

In turn, former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, jailed for abuse of power, embezzlement and other crimes, said that “This is not the time to cover our heads with ashes and suffer because of those who betrayed us. This is massive. It’s time to protest.” “We must show the world that we fight for freedom and will not tolerate injustice. We cannot waste even a minute,” he wrote on his Facebook account.

Georgian Dream MP Irakli Kagagishvili reacted to Zurabishvili’s statements, which he called “political turmoil”, in an interview with state television channel Imedi. “The opposition sees that it is losing support abroad and that is why it asks for help abroad. This is clearly a caste of sell-out politicians, the people of Georgia will not follow them. Even Jin People who voted for him also feel angry.” He said. He said that the attitude of the president and the opposition “truly denigrates European values,” promising that his party would “continue real integration with the EU.”

LGC (EFE, AFP, RTR)