A government party announces its victory in the elections in Georgia, and the opposition accuses it of fraud world

Georgia’s ruling party claimed victory in last weekend’s parliamentary elections that opponents claimed were rigged, with international observers highlighting several flaws that they say undermined the result.

According to the Election Commission, the Georgian Dream Party, led by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, received about 54% of the votes. The party’s four main rivals, who pledged to support the pro-EU charter drafted by President Salome Zurabishvili, crossed the threshold needed to qualify for parliament, receiving around 37% of the vote.

“This was complete fraud, a massive theft of your votes,” Zurabishvili said on Sunday (27) at a press conference. “Nothing like this has ever happened before – they took away our right to fair elections; “It was a Russian-style election.”

Zurabishvili’s condemnation of the results was largely symbolic, as the president in Georgia has no authority over domestic policy. The president’s statements came after consultations with three opposition coalitions that crossed the election threshold.

All opposition members refused to accept their parliamentary mandates, and called on their supporters to protest the vote on Monday (28). Tensions escalated in the Caucasus Republic, which has a population of 4 million people, after the Georgian Dream approved legislation that the United States and the European Union described as “inspired by the Kremlin.”