European electoral observers yesterday said Georgia’s election took place in a “divisive” environment with widespread intimidation and instances of physical violence which undermined the vote.
The Georgian Central Election Commission said the ruling Georgian Dream won 54.8 percent of Saturday’s vote with almost 100 percent of ballots counted. Following a divisive pre-election campaign, initial figures suggested turnout is the highest since the ruling party was first elected in 2012.
Monitoring officials from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe said they had multiple concerns about the conduct of the election including vote buying, double voting, physical violence and intimidation.
Photo: AFP
Georgian Dream used hostile rhetoric, “promoted Russian disinformation” and conspiracy theories ahead of the election in an attempt to “undermine and manipulate the vote,” said Antonio Lopez-Isturiz White, the head of the European Parliament monitoring delegation.
Georgian electoral observers, who were stationed across the country to monitor the vote, also reported multiple contraventions and said the results “do not correspond to the will of the Georgian people.”
Georgian Dream has become increasingly authoritarian, adopting laws similar to those used by Russia to crack down on freedom of speech. Brussels suspended Georgia’s EU membership process indefinitely because of a “Russian law,” passed in June.
Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder of Georgian Dream who made his fortune in Russia, claimed victory almost immediately after polls closed. “It is rare in the world for the same party to achieve such success in such a difficult situation,” he said.
He had vowed ahead of the election to ban opposition parties should his party win.
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