Georgia opposition calls for protests as ruling party claims vote win

Georgia’s opposition has called for mass protests after the former Soviet republic’s ruling party declared victory in a highly contested parliamentary election.

On Sunday, former Western-backed president and opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili – who lives in exile in Ukraine –accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of “massively falsifying the election results”, calling on supporters to take to the streets “to defend votes”.

His remarks came after the ruling party, founded by Georgia’s richest man, Bidzina Ivanishvili, said his party "has won elections for the third time in a row”.

"Georgians have elected a great team," he said.

Early on Sunday, Georgia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) said that Georgian Dream garnered 50.58% of the vote after some 44 percent of the votes had been counted.

West-backed opposition parties in Georgia unite to oust ruling part in polls

Western-backed opposition forces unite in Central Asia nation of Georgia to oust the ruling party in parliamentary elections.

The ruling party declared victory soon after the initial results were released, but it was unclear whether the governing party would secure the votes needed to form a single-party government.

The commission also announced that the country’s largest opposition party — United National Movement (UNM) — only had 24.92% of the votes, with several other opposition parties having managed to clear the 1% threshold for membership in parliament.

The opposition claimed that the results failed to correspond with reality and called on supporters to gather in central Tiblisi to protest the vote.

The objection to the vote by the UNM leaders prompted Georgian police to deploy security forces in the area around the election commission’s building.

Meanwhile, observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), as well as the NATO Parliamentary Assembly who monitored the tightly contested elections, said in a joint statement on Sunday that the elections "were competitive and, overall, fundamental freedoms were respected."

However, they also described the elections as "far from flawless" and marred by "pervasive allegations of pressure on voters... and blurring of the line between the ruling party and the State."

Several independent local election observers also criticized the vote, saying there had been multiple irregularities.

Voting opened at 0400 GMT on Saturday and concluded 12 hours later.

Georgia’s ruling party leads parliament vote; opposition calls for protests

Preliminary results show that Georgia’s ruling party has taken the lead in the parliamentary election in the former Soviet republic, with the opposition rejecting the results and announcing plans for street protests.

Due to Georgia's complex electoral regulations, the final makeup of the 150-seat parliament may only become clear by late November.

In an unprecedented show of unity before the vote, Saakashvili's UNM and smaller opposition groups joined forces and held talks on forming a coalition government if elected.

This is while elections in the Caucasus country of nearly four million people regularly trigger huge protests, with only one orderly transition of power, following a legislative poll in 2012.

The ex-president was forced to flee Georgia at the end of his second term in 2013, fearing arrest after the country’s prosecutors charged him with abusing power – which he then rejected as politically motivated.

In power since 2012, Georgian Dream Party has seen its popularity decline due to discontent over its handling of economic stagnation and allegation of reverting on its commitment to democracy.

Critics accuse Ivanishvili -- who is widely regarded as being the top decision maker in Georgia -- of persecuting political opponents and building a corrupt system in which private interests permeate politics.

Western governments, meanwhile, have accused the Georgian Dream-led administration in Tbilisi of escalating what they refer to a political witch-hunt.

Tbilisi-based analyst Gela Vasadze said Georgia appeared headed for a period of political uncertainty, even if the opposition fails to bring out big crowds of protesters.

"Georgian Dream will have an extremely shaky majority in the new parliament," he said.

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