Georgian president won't recognize election results, calls for protests
Pro-Western Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, who has broken with the ruling Georgian Dream party, said she will not recognize the results of parliamentary elections held on October 26 and alleged that the country has been the victim of a “Russian special operation.”
Zurabishvili did not present any evidence to back up her claim in a brief statement to the media in Tbilisi on October 27, RFE/RL reported.
"As the only remaining independent institution in this state, I want to say that I do not recognize this election. It cannot be recognized. It would be the same as recognizing Russia's entry here -- Georgian subordination to Russia,” she said.
“I didn't come to Georgia for [Russian domination]. Our ancestors did not live for this. We will not tolerate this. It cannot be taken away from Georgia -- its European future," she added.
She called for street protests starting on October 28 at 7 p.m. in the South Caucasus nation, which has seen mass demonstrations in recent months against the ruling Georgian Dream party, which critics accuse of being pro-Russian and of having eroded democratic norms.
She blasted what she called a “Russian special operation -- one of the new forms of hybrid warfare carried out on our people, our country.”
The Georgian Dream party celebrated an apparent win in the vote, but the pro-Western opposition cried foul and election monitors said that “critical violations took place,” including voter intimidation and physical violence.
Western observers also demanded an investigation into alleged irregularities.
With ballots from more than 99.6 percent of precincts counted, Georgia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) said that Georgian Dream took 54.8 percent of the vote.