Georgia: Thousands of protesters denounce “stolen” legislative elections

Tens of thousands of Georgians have demonstrated ; Monday & Tbilisi with the pro-European opposition to denounce the result of legislative elections “stolen” according to them by the party in power which 'they accuse of orienting the country towards Moscow, and whose progress Brussels and Washington have criticized.

A discordant European voice, the Prime Minister Hungarian Viktor Orban, close to Moscow, went to Georgia the same day to support the government there, a snub to the EU, of which his country holds the rotating presidency.

Gathered in the evening in front of the Parliament building in the centre of the capital, two days after an election won by the ruling Georgian Dream party, the crowd dispersed two hours after the start of the rally.

Led by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili and governing Georgia since 2012, Georgian Dream is accused by the opposition of having engaged in a pro-Russian authoritarian drift and of distancing this former Soviet republic in the Caucasus from the prospect of membership in the European Union and NATO.

Supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream party wave flags after polls predicted its victory in the parliamentary elections, in Tbilisi on October 26, 2024 © AFP – Giorgi ARJEVANIDZE

As the EU anthem played, protesters waved Georgian, European and sometimes Ukrainian flags, AFP journalists noted. “Georgia votes for the European Union,” read one placard. “Georgia is not Russia,” read another, captured by an AFP photographer.

“Your votes have been stolen, but we will not let anyone steal our future,” Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, who has broken with the government but has limited constitutional powers, told the crowd.

In an interview with AFP, Ms Zurabishvili denounced “sophisticated” methods to falsify the vote, which she said were similar to those used in Russia. “It is very difficult to accuse a government,” “but the methodology is Russian,” said the pro-European head of state.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has dismissed the “unfounded accusations.”

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has said Tbilisi's “main priority” remains “European integration.”

– Viktor Orban in Tbilisi –

But one of the opposition leaders, Giorgi Vachadze, said the coalition parties would refuse to sit in an “illegitimate” parliament, and were demanding new elections under international supervision.

A 19-year-old protester, Irine Tchkouaseli, said she was “determined to fight for the truth.” “Most people feel the same way, we will not stop until these false results are overturned,” she added.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, a pro-European, delivers a speech to protesters contesting the election victory of the pro-Russian ruling party, in Tbilisi on October 28, 2024 © AFP – Vano SHLAMOV

The Georgian ruling party and government have received support from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who had hailed the “crushing victory” of Georgian Dream on Saturday.

“Georgia is a conservative, Christian and pro-European state. Instead of useless sermons, it needs our support on its European path,” tweeted Mr. Orban upon his arrival, who is due to give a press conference on Tuesday with his Georgian counterpart.

“Go home!” protesters immediately shouted at him as he left his hotel, according to videos posted online.

The foreign ministers of 13 EU member states, including France, Germany and Poland, criticized the “premature” trip of the Hungarian head of government, in a joint statement released Monday evening. During the day, the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell had stressed that Viktor Orban in this context “did not represent the European Union”.

– “Impartial investigation” –

The European ministers also deplored the “violation of international rules” in these elections, which they considered “incompatible with the expected standards” of a country applying for membership of the Union. They demanded “an impartial investigation”.

A banner reading “Georgia is not Russia”, topped with a Ukrainian flag, on October 28, 2024, during a pro-European demonstration in Tbilisi © AFP – Vano SHLAMOV

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the United States “joins the calls of international observers” to do so.

According to almost final results, Georgian Dream, in power since 2012, was credited with 53.92% of the vote on Monday, compared to 37.78% for the opposition coalition.

The results were rejected on Saturday by the opposition, which had initially claimed victory based on exit polls.

Ms. Zourabichvili questioned the use of electronic voting for the first time in Georgia: the same identity card numbers were found for “seventeen votes, twenty votes, in different regions,” she said. She also mentioned methods such as vote buying and pressure.

But according to political analyst Ghia Nodia, the ruling party also knew how to maneuver by “effectively playing on fears of war” with Russia, the big neighbor to the north that had already partially invaded the country in 2008.

Billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who heads Georgia's ruling party, delivers a speech at his party headquarters after polls predicted his victory in the legislative elections, in Tbilisi on May 26 October 2024 © AFP – Giorgi ARJEVANIDZE

This analyst expects the government to now launch a “large-scale attack on opponents, civil society and independent media”.

Georgia was rocked in May by large demonstrations against a law on “foreign influence”, inspired by Russian legislation implemented to crush civil society. This mobilization was not enough to force the text to be abandoned.

Brussels froze the EU accession process in the wake of this and the United States imposed sanctions against Georgian officials.

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