The president of Georgia accuses Russia of a “special operation” to interfere in its elections

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili said on Sunday that the country was the victim of a Russian “special operation” as she stood by the Georgian opposition to declare that it does not recognize the results of parliamentary elections.

She called on Georgians to take to the main street of the capital, Tbilisi, at 19:00 local time on Monday to protest the results, which she said were “a complete fraud, a complete theft of your votes”. She spoke the day after elections that could determine Georgia’s place in Europe.

The country’s Central Election Commission said Sunday that the ruling Georgian Dream party won 54.8 percent of the vote on Saturday after nearly 100 percent of ballots were counted.

European election monitors said the election took place in a “divisive” environment marked by intimidation and incidents of physical violence that undermined the results of the vote.

The election campaign in the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million people — a former Soviet republic bordering Russia — has been influenced by foreign policy and marked by a fierce battle for votes and allegations of a smear campaign.

Initial figures suggest the turnout is the highest since the ruling party was first elected in 2012.

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) officials said on Sunday they had numerous concerns about the conduct of the election, including voter bribery, double voting, physical violence and intimidation.

Georgian Dream used hostile rhetoric and “promoted Russian disinformation” and conspiracy theories before the election in an attempt to “undermine and manipulate the vote,” said Antonio López-Isturiz White of the OSCE.

Georgian election observers, who have deployed thousands of observers across the country, reported numerous irregularities and said the results were “not in accordance with the will of the Georgian people”.

The Georgian Dream is becoming increasingly authoritarian, passing laws similar to those used by Russia to stifle free speech. Brussels suspended the process of Georgia’s accession to the European Union indefinitely due to the “Russian law” adopted in June.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder of Georgian Dream, who made his fortune in Russia, announced victory almost immediately after the polls closed, saying: “It is rare in the world for the same party to achieve such success in such a difficult situation.” Ahead of the election, he promised to ban opposition parties if his party won.

The head of the opposition party “United National Movement” Tina Bokuchava accused the election commission of carrying out Ivanishvili’s “dirty order” and said that he “stole victory from the Georgian people and thereby stole the European future.”

She noted that the opposition will not accept the results and will “fight like never before to take back our European future”.

The UNM party said its headquarters were attacked on Saturday, while Georgian media reported that two people were hospitalized after an attack near polling stations.

Some Georgians complained of intimidation and pressure to force them to vote for the ruling party.

Georgian Dream won the largest share of the vote – almost 90 percent – in the Javakheti region of southern Georgia, 135 kilometers west of the capital, where it failed to win more than 44 percent of the vote in any district.

Before the election, the Associated Press visited the region, where many people are ethnic Armenians who speak Armenian, Russian and a limited amount of Georgian. Some voters suggested that local officials told them how to vote, while some questioned why Georgia needed a relationship with Europe and suggested that it would be better off unifying with Moscow.

According to polls, about 80 percent of Georgians are in favor of joining the EU, and the country’s constitution obliges its leaders to seek membership in this bloc and NATO. Many fear that the “Georgian Dream” is dragging the country into authoritarianism and killing hopes of becoming a member of the EU.