Three weeks have passed since the parliamentary elections in Georgia. Protests over possible counterfeiting continue. Now the official result has been announced – this is unlikely to calm people's minds.
After the controversial parliamentary election in Georgia, the electoral commission confirmed the victory of the ruling party after all votes were counted. According to the official final result, the ruling Georgian Dream party received 53.93 percent of the vote and thus 89 of the 150 seats in parliament. The alliance of the four opposition parties received 37.79 percent of the votes.
The parliamentary election on October 26th was overshadowed by allegations of fraud. The pro-European opposition accused billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili's party of “stealing” its election victory. It has 61 of the 150 seats in parliament, but has already announced that it will not take up its mandate.
Opposition does not recognize the result
Already after the election, pro-European President Salome Zurabschwili and the opposition declared that they would not recognize the result. The opposition accuses the government of wanting to remove Georgia from the EU and bring the former Soviet republic closer to Moscow. Zurabshvili spoke of systematic fraud according to “Russian methodology”.
The Kremlin denied any interference in the Georgian elections.
International observers also found irregularities and violations in the election. The European Union called for an investigation into the allegations.
Protesters continue to take to the streets
The electoral commission declared the government party the winner immediately after the election. As a result, tens of thousands of opposition supporters protested against the official result. Since then, they have been demonstrating almost every day, especially in the capital Tbilisi. Recently, however, significantly fewer people have taken to the streets.
According to the Georgian constitution, parliament must meet for the first time within ten days of the announcement of the official final result.
