Opposition parties voiced condemnation after Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party declared victory with 54% support in Saturday’s vote.
Georgian President Salome Zurabichvili said her country had fallen victim to a “Russia(n) special operation” and vowed not to accept the election results and called for new elections. She also called on Georgians to take to the streets to protest.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, currently deputy head of the country’s Security Council, said Zurabichvili’s demands required her to be removed from office and arrested for “calling for a coup.”
Until now, only a few countries have accepted Georgia’s election results: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, China and Hungary.
EU ministers on Monday called for an impartial investigation into the complaints by international observers, but Sweden announced on Tuesday it would suspend its government’s cooperation with Georgian authorities.
Georgia’s Central Election Commission has asked the country’s public prosecutor’s office to investigate allegations of fraud raised by the president and opposition groups.
On October 26, violence broke out at multiple polling places while Georgians were voting. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), an international observer mission, reported concerns about vote-buying, “imbalances in funding, a divisive campaign atmosphere, and recent legislative changes.”
