TBILISI: Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has called on people to gather for a protest against the outcome of the parliamentary elec...
TBILISI: Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has called on people to gather for a protest against the outcome of the parliamentary elections at the parliamentary building in Tbilisi on Monday.
"I want to invite you tomorrow evening, at seven (3:00 p.m. GMT) to Rusraveli Avenue so that we together tell the world and ourselves that we don’t recognize these elections," she told a briefing, adding that this will be a peaceful protest.
Zourabichvili has refused to recognize Saturday’s parliamentary elections in the country, which were won by the ruling Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia party, slamming them as totally falsified.
"We saw something very unusual. It was a total falsification, total theft of your votes, when all means <…> were used to falsity the elections," she told at a briefing.
"As the only remaining independent institution in the country, I want to say that I don’t recognize these elections," she stressed.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said earlier that no one would be able to provide any facts indicating that the parliamentary elections in the country were illegitimate. He also said that Zourabichvili would not be able to block the first session of the new parliament.
Meanwhile, the president slammed the current government as illegitimate. "I would like to address our partners, European and American. I have heard the statements made by various sides. We are very thankful for these statements. But everyone outside the country must know that the defense of Georgia, defense of Georgia’s future in this region, defense of the geopolitical balance, defense of this region’s European future is the defense of the people but not establishing contacts with this illegitimate government," she said.
According to data of the Central Electoral Commission after counting ballots from 99.64% of polling stations, the Georgian Dream garnered 54.08% of the vote, the Coalition for Change took 10.92%, the United National Movement party won 10.12%, the Strong Georgia coalition had 8.78%, while the Gakharia For Georgia party scored 7.76% of the vote. All of them refuse to recognize the voting results. The voter turnout stood at 58.94%.
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