Thousands of citizens gathered in the centre of Tbilisi to protest against the results of the parliamentary elections held in Georgia over the weekend. The protest was supported by the pro-Western opposition, which accuses the ruling Georgian Dream party of pro-Russian sympathies and large-scale fraud during the election process. Among the first to call on Georgians to protest was President Salome Zurabishvili, who strongly opposed the actions of the current government.
According to official figures from the Georgian Central Election Commission, the Georgian Dream party won around 54% of the vote, while pro-Western opposition parties and international observers reported serious irregularities, including vote buying and intimidation, which could indicate widespread manipulation. President Zurabishvili, who once supported the ruling party, has now criticised it and called the vote a “Russian special operation”. She called on people to take to the streets to “show the world that we do not recognise these elections”.
The United States and the European Union also called for an immediate investigation into alleged election irregularities. The EU said that Georgia should repeal any legislation that undermines the rights of citizens and contradicts democratic values, while the US called on the Georgian leadership to uphold the rule of law.
Historically, Georgia has been one of the most pro-Western countries in the former Soviet Union, but the rapprochement with Russia demonstrated by the current government is causing concern among both the EU and Georgian citizens, who see the country’s future in close partnership with Europe.
International observers from the OSCE confirmed the violations, although they did not call the results fraudulent. However, the situation casts doubt on the possibility of achieving Georgia’s strategic goal of joining the EU.
