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Georgian Opposition Moves To Leave Parliament In Protest At Alleged Election Fraud

By RFE/RL's Georgian Service November 13, 2024

Georgia's pro-European opposition has withdrawn from the new parliament, officially renouncing its mandates obtained during the disputed October 26 elections that it refused to recognize amid accusations of widespread fraud and Russian interference.

The opposition has been holding large daily protests in Tbilisi after the Moscow-friendly Georgian Dream party, which has been in power for the past 12 years, claimed victory with 54 percent of the vote.

Georgia's pro-European president, Salome Zurabishvili, also refused to recognize the validity of the results and called for fresh elections.

Representatives of the two main opposition blocs -- the United National Movement (ENM) and the Coalition for Change -- filed an appeal on November 12 with the Central Election Commission (CEC) demanding the cancelation of their party lists -- a technical move that will make it impossible for the CEC to register the opposition candidates who won seats as lawmakers.

"On behalf of the United National Movement, we declare that we do not recognize the legitimacy of these elections and refuse our parliamentary mandates. Today, each of us who was on the parliamentary list officially sent a letter to the Central Electoral Commission so that none of the candidates would be registered," ENM head Tina Bokuchava told a joint news conference.

Nika Gvaramia, the leader of the Coalition for Change, said that all members of his bloc's list will officially sign off on their refusal for as many times as necessary if the CEC, under pressure from the authorities, tries to register them in parliament through bureaucratic procedures.

"This parliament is illegitimate, and our participation in its activities is excluded. We will not aid the authorities in legitimizing it with our presence," Gvaramia said.

In response, Georgian Dream said it would file a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court to outlaw some opposition parties, directly accusing ENM of treason.

"We do not rule out that we will take care first and foremost of the ENM, which has committed treasonous acts against the country," Georgian Dream's Secretary General Kakha Kaladze said, adding that authorities have "plenty of evidence" to outlaw the bloc, without elaborating.

Georgia has been a candidate for EU membership since last year, but moves by Georgian Dream to adopt legislation to curb foreign funding of NGOs mirroring Moscow's "foreign agents" law and anti-LGBT measures have sparked criticism from Brussels and Washington that the Caucasus country was backsliding on democracy.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/georgia-bokuchava-gvaramia- kaladze/33200300.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.