European monitors say Georgia’s vote was marred by intimidation

Violence and Hate in Georgia’s parliamentary election: Bidzina Ivanishvili’s legacy as a billionaire founder

Antonio Lopez-Isturiz White, the head of the European Parliament monitoring delegation said Georgian Dream promoted Russian misinformation during the campaign.

Russian-inspired laws have been used to crack down on speech in Georgia over the past year. Georgia’s EU membership process was put on hold because of a foreign influence law. Many Georgians viewed the referendum on Saturday as a chance to join the EU.

There were multiple concerns about the conduct of the election, including “the widespread climate of pressure, and party-organized intimidation,” vote-buying and the impartiality of state institutions, said Julian Bulai, head of the PACE delegation monitoring the polls.

Georgian Dream scored its highest share of the vote — polling almost 90% — in the Javakheti region of southern Georgia, 135 kilometers (83 miles) west of the capital. In any district it got less than half of the vote.

TBILISI, Georgia — European observers said Sunday that Georgia’s parliamentary election took place in a “climate of hatred and intimidation” with multiple violations and cases of violence, undermining the outcome of the vote that could decide the country’s future in Europe.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder of Georgian Dream who made his fortune in Russia, claimed victory almost immediately after polls closed Saturday.

Ivanishvili “Stolen the Siege from the Georgian People” and “Stealthy Russia’s Way”

“It is rare in the world for the same party to achieve such success in such a difficult situation,” he said. He had vowed before the election to ban opposition parties should his party win.

Tina Bokuchava, the chair of the United National Movement opposition party, accused the election commission of carrying out Ivanishvili’s “dirty order” and said that he “stole the victory from the Georgian people and thereby stole the European future.”

The United National Movement opposition party said its headquarters were attacked on Saturday while Georgian media reported two people were hospitalized after being attacked outside polling stations.

Natia Seskuria said that the most important question was whether or not the elections will be recognized by the international community. The election is important to Georgia’s economic and political prospects.

Georgians have a complex relationship with Russia, which ruled over it from Moscow until Georgia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Russia and Georgia fought a short war in 2008, and Moscow still occupies 20% of Georgia’s territory.

Many in Javakheti speak a variety of languages, including Russian, Georgian, and Armenia. The AP went to the region where voters suggested that they were told how to vote. Several questioned why Georgia needed a relationship with Europe and suggested it would be better off allied with Moscow.

The President appealed to Georgians to gather on Tbilisi’s main road Monday night to protest what she described as a “total falsification, a total stealing of your votes”.

TBILISI, Georgia — Georgia’s president said Sunday she did not recognize the results of this weekend’s parliamentary vote, which election officials say was won by the ruling party, adding that the country fell victim to a “Russian special operation” aimed at moving it off a path toward Europe.

The election campaign in the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million people, which borders Russia, was dominated by foreign policy and marked by a bitter fight for votes and allegations of a smear campaign.

Zourabichvili suggested “Russian elections” were held in the country, and said “technology was used to whitewash counterfeiting. Such a thing has never happened before.”

The head of the European Council called on Georgia’s officials to “swiftly, transparently and independently investigate” electoral discrepancies and urged the ruling party to prove their commitment to the EU.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, who is a member of Georgian Dream, on Sunday described his party’s victory as “impressive and obvious,” and said “any attempts to talk about election manipulation … are doomed to failure.”

The first foreign leader to congratulate Georgian Dream will be Victor Orbn, who is visiting Georgia on Monday and Tuesday.