The President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, has virtually completed her six-year time period in what is basically a ceremonial place, but the French-born politician has turn out to be excess of a figurehead over the previous few years.
She has led opposition to a set of repressive legal guidelines launched by the nation’s ruling social gathering, Georgian Dream, and extra importantly, maybe, managed to unite a fractious opposition in its makes an attempt to unseat the federal government in Saturday’s parliamentary election.
But these makes an attempt have failed after Georgian Dream, led by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, claimed 54% of the vote.
Leaders of the principle opposition events, alongside Ms Zourabichvili, say the election was stolen.
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Georgia’s President Salome Zourabichvili addresses a protest rally in opposition to the election consequence. Pic: Reuters
In an interview on the elegant Orbeliani Palace within the capital Tbilisi, I reminded President Zourabichvili of the assertion she gave after casting her vote.
“You were convinced that the opposition would win. You said ‘tonight, victory will be ours. Our dreams will come true’. What happened?,” I requested her.
“I was right,” she mentioned. “We won the elections. The pro-European forces won the elections. The fact that they were stolen is a different story.”
The president mentioned numerous strategies have been used to rig the vote however argued the introduction of recent digital voting machines was key.
“All the forms [of fraud] were used plus new technologies. The electronic equipment that was for the first time used in the elections in Georgia was used to reproduce votes. With one ID, you could vote 15, 17, 20 times and that is being documented in many [ways].”
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Georgian Dream social gathering chief Bidzina Ivanishvili. Pic: Reuters
Studies of poll field stuffing
Worldwide election observers mentioned they witnessed a collection of fraudulent and unfair practices within the lead-up to, and on election day.
Circumstances of poll field stuffing, double-voting, intimidation, and different types of stress have been reported however election displays didn’t condemn the election outright.
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A video shared on social media confirmed a person stuffing ballots right into a field at a polling station in Marneuli
I urged to President Zourabichvili that it was problematic for her that the observers had shunned declaring the ballot invalid.
“No, it’s not a problem because international observer missions never condemn elections two days after the election.
“The remark is finished extra by locals than by these worldwide observers who’ve travelled by way of the nation and it’s extremely troublesome for them.”
Was election a ‘Russian special operation’?
Infuriated by the result, leading figures in the opposition have described the election as a “Russian particular operation” that was deliberate in Moscow and executed by the chief of Georgian Dream, Mr Ivanishvili.
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Voting irregularities in Georgia
I requested the president whether or not she agreed with that declare.
“Yes, I think so, I don’t know whether it was planned in Moscow, but the methodology, the sophistication, the extent, the fact that in different places of the country, different methods were used in parallel, all of that is a very good organisation.
“It is not one thing that was simply one thing, ‘I attempted to fraud right here and there’. It was very properly deliberate prematurely.”
“It is a sturdy accusation to make,” I countered. “Some individuals are going to say the true drawback right here is that the opposition, together with your self, are refusing to simply accept the decision of the election.”
She informed me to have a look at the favored protests fuelled by the ruling social gathering’s determination to cross a Russian-style ‘international agent’ legislation.
The invoice, which was handed in Could, restricts the flexibility of media and civil society teams in receipt of international funds to perform usually.
“The will of the Georgian population was shown on the streets last March, April, and those hundreds of thousands of people – have they disappeared?”, the president requested.
Fears of violence
I requested her if she was attempting to unseat the federal government.
“I’m not there to unseat anyone,” she mentioned. “I have made a judgement on the elections… I’m the only independent institution in the country that is left. Those who have to confirm it are the people.”
Challenged over whether or not folks may get harm, Ms Zourbichvili was blunt in her response.
“Well, people will get hurt,” she mentioned.
So, did she count on her time as president to finish in uncertainty and instability?
“Certainly not. And I hope it won’t.”
