Tbilisi, 28 Oct. (Adnkronos) – “Irregularities happen everywhere, in every country”. This was stated by Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, of the Georgian Dream party, in an exclusive interview with the BBC, welcoming the election result but rejecting the accusations of fraud and violence. Official preliminary results from the Georgian Election Commission gave the ruling Georgian Dream party an absolute majority of 54%, despite polls by opposition television channels indicating victory for four opposition parties.
Georgia’s pro-Western president Salome Zourabichvili accused the elections of “total falsification” and called on opposition supporters to gather outside parliament. Election observers in this South Caucasus state bordering Russia complained of “uneven conditions” in the election, suggesting that the extent of voting rights violations may have influenced the outcome.
The United States and the European Union have supported calls for an independent investigation. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Georgia’s leaders to “respect the rule of law, repeal legislation that undermines fundamental freedoms, and together address deficiencies in the electoral process.” However, the prime minister insisted that out of 3,111 polling stations, incidents had occurred “only in a couple of constituencies”, but that in all others “the environment was completely peaceful”.
The European Union responded by freezing Georgia’s bid to join the EU, accusing it of “democratic backsliding”. Tbilisi was only granted candidate country status last December and an estimated 80% of Georgians want to be part of the 27-country union. Even before the results were announced, one of the EU leaders, Hungarian Viktor Orbán, congratulated Georgian Dream on having obtained a fourth mandate and will travel to Georgia today.
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