European election monitors said today that parliamentary elections in Georgia were held in a divisive environment with widespread intimidation and physical violence undermining the outcome of a vote that could determine the country's future in Europe.
The Georgian Central Election Commission announced today that the ruling party "Georgian Dream" won 54,8 percent of the votes in yesterday's elections based on almost 100 percent of the votes counted. According to these data, the pro-European opposition, which condemned the elections as "stolen", won 37,58 percent of the votes.
Preliminary data indicate that the turnout was the highest since the ruling party first came to power in 2012.
International observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other European bodies said they had several complaints about the conduct of the election, including vote buying, double voting, physical violence and intimidation.
The elections held yesterday "were characterized by inequalities (between candidates), pressures and tensions", international observers assessed, according to France Press.
The ruling Georgian Dream party used hostile rhetoric, promoted Russian disinformation and conspiracy theories ahead of the election in an effort to undermine and influence the vote, said Antonio Lopez-Isturiz White, head of the European Parliament's observation delegation.
The manner in which the elections were conducted is proof of the "democratic regression" of the ruling party, he said.
Election observers deployed across the country to monitor the election also reported numerous violations and said the results did not reflect the will of the Georgian people.
The Georgian Dream party has become increasingly authoritarian by adopting laws similar to those used in Russia to suppress free speech. Brussels has suspended the process of Georgia's accession to the Union for an indefinite period due to the so-called "Russian law" adopted in June, according to AP.
Bidzina Ivanishvili, the millionaire and founder of the "Georgian Dream" who made his fortune in Russia, declared victory almost immediately after the polls closed yesterday.
"It is rare in the world for the same party to achieve such great success in such a difficult situation," he said. Before the election, he promised to ban opposition parties if his party won.
During the night, the opposition, which first declared victory based on exit polls, refused to admit defeat.
"We will not recognize these false results and stolen elections," Tina Bokučava, head of the United National Movement, one of the four parties in the opposition coalition, said at a press conference.
Bokučava accused the election commission of carrying out Ivanishvili's "dirty order" and said that he "stole victory from the Georgian people and thus stole their European future."
She said the opposition will not recognize the results and will "fight like never before to regain the European future" of the country.
Her party said its headquarters were attacked on Saturday, while Georgian media reported that two people were taken to hospital after an attack outside polling stations.
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