Hundreds of demonstrators protested yesterday, as Georgia’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC) met to ratify the results of the Oct. 26 national election. There were some clashes with police, no reports of injuries, and at least three arrests. The leader of the Georgian opposition, President Salome Zourabichvili, had charged that the four opposition groups, totaling 38-39% of the vote, had actually won, and not the ruling Georgia Dream party, at 54%. However, when called upon to present evidence, she denied that she had any obligation to do so and refused to show up.
Instead, Zourabichvili, immediately after the Oct. 26 election, pushed for demonstrations, saying that Georgia had become a “victim of a Russian special operation.” At Zourabichvili’s major protest, on Nov. 4 in Tbilisi, there were flags of Georgia, Ukraine and the EU—and even Greta Thunberg turned up. When Reuters asked Zourabichvili about her claim of a “Russian special operation,” she gave no actual evidence, but fell back on the explanation that the “methodology used in support of most probably Russian … types is shown in the election…. Of course, you cannot prove anything.” Just that there are “clear links” between the ruling Georgian Dream party and Russia.
