The Georgia Prosecutor’s Office announced on Wednesday, October 30, the opening of an investigation into “alleged falsification” legislative elections. He also summoned the country’s pro-Western president, Salomé Zourabichvili, who has broken with the government and is critical of the results, so that she can detail, on Thursday, her accusations of fraud against the ruling party declared winner of the elections. . the head of state “may have evidence of possible electoral manipulation”the prosecution continues.
This announcement comes four days after legislative elections in this small former Soviet republic in the Caucasus, which were marred “irregularities” according to the opposition. According to the official results, the Georgian Dream party won, in power since 2012 and accused by its detractors of pro-Russian authoritarian drift.
In addition, following accusations of fraud, a partial recount of the votes was ordered in 14% of the polling stations. It has been underway since noon on Tuesday, with the results unknown at this point.
The European Union, the United States and international observers have also expressed doubts about the regularity of the vote. In recent days, the European Union and the United States have explicitly called on Tbilisi to open investigations into these allegations of“significant irregularities”.
Accusations of vote buying and pressure
The opposition, led by Salomé Zourabichvili, has denounced elections since Saturday night. “stolen” and refuses to recognize the results declared by the Electoral Commission.
In an interview given on Monday to Agence France-Presse, the Georgian president stated that a system ” sophisticated “ of fraud following “a Russian methodology” had allowed Georgian Dream to win, in particular thanks“vote buying” or even “pressures” towards the voters. The Kremlin, for its part, rejected “unfounded accusations” and refuted any Russian interference in the electoral process in Georgia.
A discordant voice within the European Union, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, close to Vladimir Putin, congratulated Georgian Dream on its victory in the elections “free and democratic”during a visit on Monday and Tuesday to Tbilisi. This strong support, the only one among the Twenty-Seven, has given strength in Brussels at a time when Hungary holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union until the end of the year.
Opponents accuse Georgian Dream of steering the country toward Russia and moving away from the goal, enshrined in the Constitution, of joining the European Union and NATO.
