Georgia’s sometimes divided opposition came together at the presidential palace in Tbilisi in a spectacular display of solidarity, standing shoulder to shoulder behind President Salome Zourabichvili as she boldly said, “I do not recognise these elections.”
Acknowledging them would be equivalent to approving Russia’s annexation of Georgia. The future of Europe cannot be sacrificed for the benefit of future generations.The government, controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party, she said, is “illegitimate” and the election it carried out October 26 was a “complete falsification.” Her voice rising, she said: “We were not just witnesses but also victims of what can only be described as a Russian special operation – a new form of hybrid warfare waged against our people and our country.”
She urged Georgians to gather in protest Monday evening on the capital’s main street, Rustaveli Avenue, “to peacefully defend every vote and, most importantly, our future.” The statement was a bold challenge to the Georgian Dream’s founder and now honorary chairman, the reclusive billionaire oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, who claimed victory in the parliamentary election even before all the votes were counted.
Ivanishvili had vowed to ban the opposition if his party won the election, and his opponents are taking him at his word. Many Georgians feel deep hostility toward Russia, which invaded Georgia in 2008 and occupies about 20% of its internationally recognized territory – about the same proportion it occupies in Ukraine. Despite recent Russian aggression against Georgia, Georgian Dream has long been accused of harboring pro-Russian sympathies and Ivanishvili made his fortune in the Soviet Union.
On Saturday, as Georgians cast their ballots, thousands of Georgian and international election observers fanned out to voting precincts across the country, from urban centers to poor, remote villages in the Caucasus mountains, trying to evaluate whether the vote was free and fair.
Observations by the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) were even more stark: “On election day, ISFED documented serious violations, such as ballot stuffing of ballot papers, multiple voting, unprecedented levels of voter bribery, expulsion of observers from polling stations, as well as instances of mobilizing voters outside polling stations, collecting their personal data, and controlling their voting intentions.”
In Tbilisi, former US Representative John Shimkus said the intimidation and harassment of voters created an “atmosphere of fear.” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also acknowledged the election observers’ “reports of irregularities and sporadic violence.”
“We condemn all contraventions of international norms and join calls from international and local observers for a full investigation of all reports of election-related violations,” Blinken said, urging Georgia’s political leaders to “address deficiencies in the electoral process together.” Swedish Member of Parliament Margareta Cederfelt added: “The government’s continued harassment and intimidation of voters and civil society not only during the election period, but well before it, has threatened Georgia’s democratic underpinnings.”
The Georgian opposition owes its new unity to the efforts of President Zourabichvili, a person some of them used to criticize, but now respect. “She is on the right side of history,” said opposition politician Nika Gvaramia. “She is the only one who can unite people.”Observations by the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) were even more stark: “On election day, ISFED documented serious violations, such as ballot stuffing of ballot papers, multiple voting, unprecedented levels of voter bribery, expulsion of observers from polling stations, as well as instances of mobilizing voters outside polling stations, collecting their personal data, and controlling their voting intentions.”
In Tbilisi, former US Representative John Shimkus said the intimidation and harassment of voters created an “atmosphere of fear.” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also acknowledged the election observers’ “reports of irregularities and sporadic violence.” “We condemn all contraventions of international norms and join calls from international and local observers for a full investigation of all reports of election-related violations,” Blinken said, urging Georgia’s political leaders to “address deficiencies in the electoral process together.”
Swedish Member of Parliament Margareta Cederfelt added: “The government’s continued harassment and intimidation of voters and civil society not only during the election period, but well before it, has threatened Georgia’s democratic underpinnings.” The Georgian opposition owes its new unity to the efforts of President Zourabichvili, a person some of them used to criticize, but now respect. “She is on the right side of history,” said opposition politician Nika Gvaramia. “She is the only one who can unite people.”
Source: Here