Georgia’s pro-European president on Monday alleged that parliamentary polls – whose results have been rejected by the opposition – were marred by widespread voting fraud bearing the hallmarks of Russia’s influence, as tens of thousands took to the streets of the capital Tbilisi in response to opposition calls to protest against the “stolen election”.
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According to near-final results announced by the electoral commission, the ruling party Georgian Dream won 53.92 per cent of the vote in Saturday’s election, compared with 37.78 per cent won by a union of pro-Western opposition alliances.
The opposition has said the vote was unfair and has refused to concede defeat to a party it accuses of pro-Kremlin authoritarianism.
Moscow has rejected opposition claims of interference in the vote.
But Salome Zurabishvili – who has a figurehead role in Georgian politics – has declared the announced results “illegitimate” and pointed at the Caucasus country’s former Soviet master.
Speaking to Agence France-Presse, the head of state claimed that “quite sophisticated” fraudulent schemes were used in the weekend vote – with a higher level of planning than the government seemed capable of achieving to stay in power.
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