Salomé Zurabishvili called for new legislative elections, after the victory of the Georgian Dream, a party accused of being pro-Russian and authoritarian. The president declared a crisis.
The president of Georgia, Salomé Zurabishvili, in conflict with the Government, called this Monday for new legislative elections, after the victory of the ruling party, Georgian Dream, in October, which the opposition denounced as fraudulent.
The pro-Western opposition in this Caucasus country refused to recognize the result of the legislative elections, which ended with the victory of the Georgian Dream, accused by its critics of authoritarian and pro-Russian drift.
The Georgian head of state, who has limited powers, condemned in a press conference “elections controlled and manipulated by a single party”, in reference to the Georgian dream.
“Now we face a crisis.”, he declared, adding that it is necessary to organize “new elections so that Georgia can have a legitimate parliament, a legitimate government.”
Zurabichvili, who accuses Russia of electoral interference, announced that a group of deputies from eight European countries, including France and Germany, will meet in Georgia to help “find solutions to this crisis.”
Parliament Speaker Chalva Papuachvili refused to meet the delegation who, late in the afternoon, joined a pro-European opposition rally in front of the parliament building.
The European Union, to which Georgia aspires to join, has been putting pressure on the Georgian government since the legislative elections of October 26, which the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, declared on Friday “serious suspicions of fraud, which require serious investigation.”
Source: Observadora
