Georgians protest to denounce ruling party win in elections
Al Jazeera
Protests come after the opposition and the president said the vote was rigged in favour of the ruling party.
Thousands of Georgians have taken to the streets to protest against the disputed parliamentary election after the pro-Western opposition and president called for mass protests against what they called a “rigged” vote.
Demonstrators gathered outside the main parliament building in the capital, Tbilisi, on Monday to denounce the election results that saw the ruling Georgian Dream party win by 54 percent of the votes.
The country – rocked by mass protests earlier this year – has plunged into political uncertainty since Saturday’s vote, with Brussels, Washington, France and Germany condemning “irregularities”. Georgian election monitors claimed to have uncovered a large-scale fraud scheme that altered the election outcome in favour of the ruling party.
According to near-complete results announced by the electoral commission, the Georgian Dream party won 53.92 percent of the vote, compared to the 37.78 percent garnered by a union of four pro-Western opposition alliances.
For months, the opposition has accused Georgian Dream of steering Tbilisi away from its goal of joining the EU and back into Russia’s orbit.
