Georgian opposition alleges election fraud, warns of Russian influence
Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of Georgian Dream, which won the parliamentary elections in Georgia on Saturday, conducted a special operation aimed at preparing the country for Russia, according to the leader of the opposition bloc Strong Georgia, Mamuka Khazaradze, who made the statement on Sunday.
"It is perfectly clear what happened. Bidzina conducted a special operation under a code name received from the KGB. The election results were completely falsified; they took the people's votes and are preparing the country for Russia. They won't succeed! I will never agree to this deceit. Never!" wrote the leader of the movement Lelo for Georgia, part of the centrist-liberal bloc Strong Georgia, on social media.
The head of the opposition party For Georgia, Giorgi Gakharia, stated that the election results do not reflect the will of the people. He noted at the same time: "This is not a time to wring our hands. We must all resort to wise forms of protest, aimed primarily at defending the choice of our citizens, defending the European future of our country, and defending the institution of elections as such," he announced.
According to official data, both Strong Georgia and the party For Georgia have surpassed the 5-percent electoral threshold. However, the opposition and social observers believe that there were numerous irregularities during the voting.
Reaction of the opposition to the election results
On Saturday evening, Tina Bokuchava, leader of the United National Movement, the former ruling party founded by former President Mikheil Saakashvili, announced that the group does not recognize the election results. According to the party chairwoman, Georgia's Central Election Commission "fulfilled a dirty order" from Ivanishvili.
Nika Gvaramia, one of the leaders of the Coalition for Change, also stated that his bloc does not recognize the results and accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of a "coup." "The procedure of election falsification has been detailed, and the public will learn more about it on Sunday. The elections were stolen. This is a constitutional coup. Georgian Dream is the author of the constitutional coup and will be held accountable as provided by the legislation of Georgia," said Gvaramia.
The ruling party, which—according to official results—won about 54 percent of the votes, maintains that the elections were peaceful and accuses the opposition of not being able to accept defeat. Prime Minister Irakli Kobachidze also accused opposition television crews of organizing provocations.
