Opposition parties cried foul after Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, claimed victory with 54 percent support in a vote on Saturday.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said her country had fallen victim to a “Russia[n] special operation,” and vowed she wouldn’t accept the election results, demanding a re-run. She also called on Georgian citizens to take to the streets in protest.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, currently deputy chair of the country’s Security Council, said of Zourabichvili’s demands that she needed to be removed from office and arrested for “calling for a coup.”
Only a few countries have accepted Georgia’s election results so far: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, China and Hungary.
EU ministers on Monday called for an impartial investigation into complaints by international observers, while Sweden said on Tuesday that it was pausing government cooperation with Georgian authorities.
Georgia’s Central Election Committee asked the country’s prosecution office to examine the fraud allegations raised by the president and opposition figures.
Violence erupted at multiple polling stations Oct. 26 as Georgians cast votes. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), acting as international observers, reported concerns over vote-buying, “imbalances in financial resources, a divisive campaign atmosphere, and recent legislative amendments.”
