Rigged election turns Georgia toward becoming another Belarus - opposition leader

He spoke about this on Espreso TV.

"The parliamentary elections held in Georgia on October 26 were fabricated," said the opposition politician. "These elections were the first in Georgia to use specially purchased voting machines, making the vote count especially challenging. Even in 2012, when Georgian Dream first came to power, they only received 53% of the vote, later polling around 42-43%, but never as high as 54%. We expect the protests to be significant."

He added that Western leaders have so far withheld congratulations from Georgian Dream, with the sole exception being Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is expected to arrive in Georgia today, October 28.

According to him, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned widespread fraud in the election, urging Georgian authorities to conduct an investigation.

"We will not accept the results of these elections," he continued. "If this election is stolen from us, Georgia will become like Belarus. Georgian Dream's campaign used slogans related to Ukraine, with posters titled ‘War and Peace’ displaying images of destroyed Ukrainian cities posted in towns across Georgia. Georgian Dream conducted this campaign entirely, and I won’t list every incident of fraud, corruption, or vote-buying. International observers have already documented these issues. If elections continue in this manner, Georgia will become a direct satellite of the Kremlin, leading to our 'Belarusianization,'" Gigi Ugulava concluded.

Election results in Georgia

Voting in the Georgian parliamentary elections took place on Saturday, October 26, 2024.

The country’s Central Election Commission declared the ruling pro-Russian Georgian Dream party the winner with 54% of the vote. The party built its campaign on rejecting EU and NATO membership, claiming these alliances posed a threat of war for Georgia. As “proof,” Georgian Dream's billboards and campaign videos featured images of destroyed Ukrainian cities.

The opposition unanimously rejected the election results, renounced its mandates in the newly elected parliament, and is preparing to start street protests tomorrow.

Among foreign leaders, only Viktor Orban of Hungary, Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia, and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan have so far congratulated the Georgian authorities on their "victory."

Meanwhile, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, responded to a report by EU observers who monitored the voting process in Georgia on October 26, which was published on October 27. He specifically called on the Georgian Central Election Commission to investigate and address irregularities in the vote-counting process.

On October 28, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Georgia to conduct a thorough investigation into reports of violations associated with the October 26 elections.