Tens of thousands of people have rallied in Georgia to denounce parliamentary elections they believe were rigged.

TBILISI, Georgia. Tens of thousands of Georgians gathered outside the parliament on Monday evening, demanding the repeal parliamentary elections at the weekend which the president condemned as falsified with the help of Russia.

The rally deepened the political crisis in the South Caucasus country, where the ruling Georgian Dream party is becoming increasingly authoritarian and leaning towards Moscow.

“You did not lose the election,” President Salome Zourabishvili told demonstrators waving Georgian and European Union flags. “They stole your vote and tried to steal your future, but no one has the right to do that, and you won’t let anyone do that!”

Zurabishvili, a mostly ceremonial president, told the crowd that she would defend the country’s path to Europe against the actions of “Georgian Dream”.

“We have no alternative and nothing else, we want to leave this country for future generations,” she said.

The leader of the “United National Movement” coalition, Georgy Vashadze, said that the opposition will not participate in any negotiations with the government and will promote the holding of new elections under international supervision.

“We are not going to this parliament. We refuse all mandates,” he said. “We are not going to enter into any negotiations. We are going to fight for victory and we promise you, we will definitely win together.”

Natia Chachava, who was wrapped in a Georgian flag, said the demonstrators “don’t want Russia, we don’t want to go back to Russia or back to the Soviet Union.”

Lana Togonidze, a 20-year-old student, expressed hope that the West “will see that the Georgian people do not support this government, we hope that they will not recognize these elections as legitimate, and they will not confirm this government.”

Zurabishvili, who refused to recognize the official results, previously told the Associated Press that Georgia fell victim to Russian pressure against joining the EU.

“We saw that Russian propaganda was used directly,” said Zurabishvili, a fierce critic of Georgian Dream. She said the government “worked side by side with Russia” and “probably” received help from Moscow’s security services.

The US and European Union have called for a full investigation into Saturday’s election results.

“Georgians, like all Europeans, must be masters of their own destiny,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The Central Election Commission said that the Georgian Dream party won 54.8% of the vote after almost all ballots were counted. The party is founded Bidzina Ivanishvili, shadow billionaire who made his fortune in Russia — has become increasingly authoritarian over the past year, passing laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to suppress freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.

The protest is the only way Georgians can “express that their votes are stolen, that their future is stolen,” Zurabishvili told the AP.

She expressed hope that the US and the EU would support the demonstrations.

“We need the firm support of our European partners, our American partners,” Zurabishvili said, adding that it is in the interests of a “powerful Europe” to be present in the Caucasus and for the region to be stable.

Asked if she wanted to impose sanctions on Georgian officials, Zurabishvili told the AP that it was up to Western leaders, but “of course, this is not the time to restore relations with a government that is currently illegitimate.”

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called on Georgia’s political leaders to “respect the rule of law, repeal legislation that undermines fundamental freedoms, address flaws in the electoral process, and move Georgia toward a Euro-Atlantic future.”

He called for a full investigation into all reports of election-related irregularities, as did EU Commission spokeswoman Nabila Massrali, who said the Georgian Dream campaign was “directly inspired” by Russian propaganda and “unprecedented levels of disinformation”.

The Kremlin rejected the accusations of interference.

“We do not interfere in Georgia’s internal affairs and have no intention of interfering,” said Kremlin press secretary Dmytro Peskov. He denied that it was the West that tried to influence the vote.

Answering a question about Zurabishvili’s call to Georgians to join the protests, he called it an attempt to destabilize the country.

Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, a member of Georgian Dream, accused the president of creating a “coup scenario” that “contradicts the constitutional order and democratic elections.”

The EU has suspended Georgia’s membership application process indefinitely due to Russian style “Foreign Influence Act” passed in June. Many Georgians saw Saturday’s vote as a key referendum on the possibility of joining the EU.