Georgia's president calls for Western support against 'rigged' election results
The President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, has appealed to Western nations for support in the opposition's protests against the official results of Saturday's parliamentary elections.
5:52 PM EDT, October 28, 2024
During a press conference on Sunday, President Zurabishvili stated that Georgian voters fell victim to a "Russian special operation" and described the elections as a new form of hybrid warfare aimed at the Georgian nation.
According to data from the Central Election Commission, the ruling party Georgian Dream, in power since 2012, won the elections and is accused of deviating from democratic standards. Both the President and the opposition do not recognize the official results, and observers have pointed out irregularities during the voting.
"It was a total falsification and confiscation of your votes. All methods, which we have seen in various countries, were used," said Zurabishvili, as quoted by the Polish Press Agency. "In addition, modern technologies were used to 'whitewash the forgery.' We have never seen anything like this. We were witnesses and victims of a Russian special operation, hybrid warfare," she added.
The President accused the ruling Georgian Dream of "acting hand in hand with Russia" and potentially receiving assistance from Russian security services. "We saw that Russian propaganda was directly used," she emphasized in an interview with the Associated Press.
Zurabishvili highlighted that she anticipates strong support from the United States and the European Union for the opposition protests against the election results. "We must have strong support from our European partners and American partners," she said.
On Monday at 11:00 AM Eastern Time, the President's demonstration in the center of Tbilisi will begin. The demonstration aims to express opposition to the official parliamentary election results.
