Georgian President Zurabishvili: “I do not recognize the elections”

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili stated in a statement regarding the general elections held in her country yesterday, “I do not recognize these elections. The recognition of these elections is impossible. Recognizing this means recognizing Russia’s intervention.”

Reactions continue after the ruling Georgian Dream Party won the general elections held yesterday in Georgia with 53.9% of the votes. After meeting with the leaders of the opposition parties at the Presidential Palace, President Zurabishvili made statements. President Zurabishvili said, “First of all, I want to extend a big thank you to all the voters who voted for Georgia’s European future. You were many, you won these elections, and no one has the right to take our European future away from us. The elections held on October 26 were completely fraudulent. Technology was used to conceal the fraud. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Elections were conducted in the style of Russia. Many things need to be investigated.”

Zurabishvili invited the public to a rally to be held on Rustaveli Avenue in the capital Tbilisi, stating, “We would like to invite you to Rustaveli Avenue tomorrow evening at 19:00. Let’s jointly declare in front of the world that we do not recognize these elections. We will not give up the right to hold democratic elections. This will be a symbolic march, all of us together.”

According to the results of the Central Election Commission, the elections held in Georgia for the first time with proportional representation and electronic voting were won by the ruling Georgian Dream Party with 53.93%. Four opposition parties also entered the parliament by surpassing the 5% threshold. However, the opposition parties announced that they do not recognize the election results, claiming that the elections were “falsified” and that they would not enter the parliament.