Thousands of Georgians join mass rally in Tbilisi as president urges protest over 'rigged' election
28 October 2024, 19:59
Thousands of Georgians have gathered in the streets of the capital, Tbilisi, following the president’s call to push for the annulment of Saturday's election.
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Georgia's ruling party won the country's general election, beating its pro-EU and pro-Western opposition.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) said the ruling Georgian Dream party, which has been in power for 12 years, had won 54% of the vote with more than 99% of precincts counted.
Earlier, President Salome Zourabichivili, who has sided with the opposition, called on Georgians to rally outside parliament after an election she said was "totally falsified".
The ruling Georgian Dream party and the election commission are adamant the result was free and fair.
Both Georgian Dream and the opposition blocs portrayed the vote as a choice between moving towards the West - potentially by joining the European Union - or tightening ties with Russia.
Zourabichvili said that the government's victory was "not the will of the Georgian people" who wanted to keep their European future.
She said Monday’s protest would be "very peaceful", adding that she did not believe Georgia's authorities wanted confrontation.
One 22-year-old protestor reportedly said: "The main thing we want here is to get what we deserve - legal elections. No-one had any idea this would happen. At first we were frustrated, then we realised what happened and now we're angry.”
Another said they wanted "another election that isn’t forged".
"I’m really happy a lot of young people are here. Most of the speakers from the four opposition parties are saying don’t give up," they added.
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The European Union, Nato and the US have called for a full investigation into allegations by monitoring missions of vote fraud before and on the day of Saturday's vote.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Georgians had a "right to see that electoral irregularities are investigated swiftly, transparently and independently."
She added that "Georgians, like all Europeans, must be the masters of their own destiny."
