Georgia’s pro-Western president has called on the international community to support her country’s people after a disputed election that she called “a complete sham.”
Salome Zurabichvili, who sides with the opposition, called on Georgians to take to the streets on Monday, telling the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg that this was a “crucial moment”.
The ruling Georgian Dream party and the electoral commission firmly believe the result, in which the government received nearly 54% of the vote, was free and fair.
Zurabichvili, however, urged Georgia’s partners to look at what is happening, adding that the government’s victory “is not the will of the Georgian people” as they want to preserve their European future.
Zurabichvili made clear that the protests would be “very peaceful”, adding that she did not believe Georgian authorities wanted a confrontation.
It’s not entirely clear what she and four opposition groups hope to achieve by bringing Georgians to the main boulevard in front of parliament on Monday, but she said what happens next will be decided by the people and the parties.
“My call is for demonstrations, but where do the people of Georgia stand? That’s what we’re going to see tonight.”
“Maybe we won’t be able to achieve that today or tomorrow,” she said. “There’s a lot that can be done. There could be international scrutiny of some elements of the election, there could be calls for new elections. I don’t know within what timeframe that would be.”
The European Union, Nato and the United States have called for a full investigation into allegations of voting fraud through monitoring missions ahead of and on Saturday’s vote.
The calls for protest echoed weeks of demonstrations earlier this year that paralyzed Rustaveli Boulevard in central Tbilisi.
Getty ImagesGeorgians trying to stop the government from introducing a Russian-style “foreign agents” law targeting media and civil society groups with foreign funding clashed with riot police, who responded with water cannon, tear gas and force.
The protests ultimately failed, and the European Union froze Georgia’s application to join the 27-nation bloc, accusing it of democratic backsliding.
The government is clearly preparing for further protests. Last week it was revealed that the interior minister had purchased new water cannon trucks and other equipment, including lethal weapons, for riot police to use “if necessary”.
Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze told the BBC that the alleged irregularities before and during the vote were limited to “a small number” of polling stations. “The overall content of the election complies with legal principles and the principles of democratic elections,” he said.
But President Zorabicvili said the scale of electoral fraud was unprecedented: “Everything we have heard about in this country was exploited in a parallel way.”
She claimed that before the election, the identity cards of families who relied on state funds were confiscated.
It was difficult to explain why at the time, she said, but later it became clear that ID cards were being used for so-called carousel voting in Georgia’s new electronic voting system — “a person can vote 10, 15, 17 times with one ID.” ”. Same ID”.
She also described the vote results as a “Russian special operation” but stopped short of accusing the Kremlin of direct interference. Instead, she accused the government of using a “very sophisticated” Russian-inspired propaganda strategy.
The government strongly denies any ties to Russia, noting that it is the only country in the region that does not have diplomatic relations with Moscow.
Russia fought a five-day war with its southern neighbor in 2008 and still occupies 20% of Georgia.
The Kremlin denies any involvement in the election and mocks Georgia’s pro-EU president, whose term ends in December.
A number of international leaders, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, congratulated Georgian Dream on his fourth re-election in a hotly contested election.
Orban is due to arrive in Tbilisi on Monday for a two-day visit that has angered several of his European partners over his message to the Georgian government.
A spokesman for the German foreign ministry said the Hungarian leader could go where he wanted, although it was clear he was not speaking on behalf of the EU.
Hungary currently holds the rotating EU presidency, but foreign policy chief Josep Borrell stressed that Hungary “has no authority in foreign policy”.
“Whatever Mr Orban says during his visit to Georgia, he does not represent the EU,” Borrell told Spanish radio.
