Political crisis looms for Georgia after disputed election

TBILISI, Georgia — Georgia, a strategically located republic at the center of the Caucasus, plunged into political crisis Sunday as the ruling party celebrated victory in a pivotal election that the pro-Western opposition declared as falsified, vowing to boycott the new parliament.

The shaky situation further polarized a political struggle between Georgian Dream, which has governed Georgia for 12 years, increasingly steering it away from its decadeslong path to join NATO and the European Union, and the four political groups that aim to keep it moving toward the West.

The crisis will likely push Georgia further away from the West. On Sunday, shortly after the results were announced, European observers condemned the conduct of the election.

Critical violations included violence against opposition members, voter intimidation, smear campaigns targeting observers, and extensive misuse of administrative resources, said Zlatko Vujovic, the head of the observation mission of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations.

“They were not conducted in the proper way as should be expected from a country that has a E.U. candidate status,” Vujovic said at a briefing with journalists. He characterized the election as “not good.”

The Election Administration of Georgia, the body that oversees elections in the country, reported Sunday that the ruling party had garnered nearly 54% of the vote, with the four main opposition groups receiving 37.5%. That means that Georgian Dream could capture up to 89 seats in Parliament with the remaining 61 going to the opposition.

The four opposition groups were unanimous in saying that they did not recognize the election as legitimate, citing significant violations. Two said they would not enter Parliament, setting the stage for a prolonged political crisis. They did not provide evidence for their allegations.

Speaking on Sunday night, President Salome Zourabichvili of Georgia, who is the ceremonial head of state, said the election was “a total falsification, a total stealing of votes.”

“We witnessed and were victims of a real special operation conducted by Russia — a new type of hybrid warfare was waged against our people,” Zourabichvili said in her presidential palace, surrounded by leaders of the opposition.

She called on her supporters to protest Monday night on Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue, the city’s main thoroughfare. But it was not clear the true extent of popular support for the opposition’s statements. The city’s streets have remained calm, and there have been no large-scale protests since the election results were announced.

Zourabichvili and opposition leaders did not provide any specific evidence to back up their allegations of mass violations during the voting, but promised to do so.

Highlighting the pull between East and West, Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary late Saturday sent his congratulations to Georgia’s prime minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, and Georgian Dream, saying “The people of Georgia know what is best for their country, and made their voice heard today!”

Orban’s message, essentially praising Georgia for taking what many feel is a step away from the European Union, came despite Hungary holding the six-month rotating EU presidency. It is a largely administrative role, but one that holders usually use to represent the interests and values of the bloc.

Orban, a champion of “illiberal democracy,” will arrive in Georgia on Monday for a two-day visit with the Georgian government, according to Agenda.ge, a local news website.

The last parliamentary elections in Georgia ended with a similar scenario as the one that unfolded over the weekend, with the opposition refusing to accept the official results. The crisis lasted more than five months before the ruling party and the opposition reached an agreement that was mediated by officials from the European Union.

But this time, the ruling party seemed determined to press ahead with what it said was a mandate from the people, and it is unlikely to welcome European mediation.

Speaking at a briefing Sunday, Kobakhidze said the election was administered “flawlessly.”

“Our victory is impressive and clear — any attempt to talk about manipulations in the context of electronic vote and unprecedented campaign circumstances is bound to fail,” Kobakhidze said, adding that the new parliament will operate regardless of whether opposition lawmakers enter it or not.

ISFED, a local election monitoring group, said in a statement Sunday that its parallel voter tabulation count was “consistent” with the official results but that “fundamental flaws in preelection and election day processes impacted voters’ ability to express their free choice.”

Leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Georgia’s neighbors in the South Caucasus, congratulated Georgian Dream. Russian lawmakers and officials also commended the result.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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