Georgia election marred by intimidation and interference, observers warn

TBILISI, Georgia — A critical nationwide vote that saw Georgia’s ruling party claim a landslide victory was overshadowed by political violence and irregularities, the Western election monitoring mission in the South Caucasus country warned.

At a press conference in Tbilisi on Sunday, Pascal Allizard, a French senator and special coordinator for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said that vote buying and “imbalances in financial resources, a divisive campaign atmosphere and recent legislative amendments were of significant concern throughout this election process.”

According to Antonio López-Istúriz White, the head of the European Parliament delegation, “during the electoral campaign, the ruling party used anti-Western and hostile rhetoric, targeting Georgia’s democratic partners, in particular the European Union, its politicians and diplomats, promoted Russian disinformation, manipulation and conspiracy theories.”

“We express deep concern about the democratic backsliding in Georgia. The conduct of yesterday’s election is unfortunately evidence to that effect. We fear that the climate of hatred and intimidation we witnessed on the Election day could seriously undermine the political process in Georgia,” he added, alleging “a sophisticated, widespread and well-orchestrated scheme” had been at play.

The joint OSCE, European Parliament, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly mission deployed around 500 monitors across the country.

Results published by Georgia’s Central Election Committee show the governing Georgian Dream party took 53 percent of the vote, while the united opposition coalition attracted 38 percent. Bidzina Ivanishvili, the chairman of Georgian Dream, told POLITICO at a jubilant election night rally that the result was a “big victory” for his party.

Georgian Dream had vowed to ban opposition parties and bar their MPs from taking up their seats if it received a significant enough majority.

Opposition parties have moved to dismiss the result of the election amid widespread reports of ballot stuffing, vote buying and intimidation. Tina Bokuchava, one of the leaders of the opposition coalition, said she and her allies would not accept the results of a “stolen election.”

“Elections were stolen. Power has been usurped, this is a coup. Georgian Dream will have to admit the victory of opposition,” said Coalition for Change leader Nika Gvaramia.

Two foreign election observers who spoke to POLITICO on condition of anonymity said they had personally witnessed irregularities in the counting and physical violence at polling stations.

“Reports of irregularities in Georgian elections give rise to grave concern,” said Margus Tsahkna, foreign minister of Estonia in a message posted online. “Closely following the evaluations of international and local observers.”

The opposition will need to present strong evidence of violations if they are to contest results and call for demonstrations, said Kornely Kakachia, head of Georgian Institute of Politics.

“The protest may not gain traction unless opposition presents evidence of violations. If they prove violations were systematic, it will be supported by general public.”

Opposition leaders will meet later on Sunday evening with the pro-Western president, Salome Zourabichvili, who has declared that victory belonged to the opposition “despite attempts to rig elections.” Protests are expected, raising the prospect of a resumption of a long-running demonstration movement that saw police violently crack down on activists on the streets over the summer.

Georgia, which was awarded EU candidate status in December, has seen its application to join the bloc suspended amid warnings of backsliding on human rights. Georgian Dream has introduced a package of Russian-style legislation in recent months that brands Western-funded NGOs and media outlets as “foreign agents” and imposes sweeping restrictions on the LGBTQ+ community.

The United States imposed sanctions on Georgian Dream politicians and police officers it says were responsible for repressions and violence against peaceful protesters in the wake of the introduction of the new laws.