Georgia prosecutors probe alleged election 'falsification'

Georgia prosecutors probe alleged election 'falsification'

Georgia has been plunged into political uncertainty after Saturday's parliamentary election which the opposition says was rigged

Georgian prosecutors on Wednesday launched a probe into the alleged "falsification" of the country's parliamentary election and summoned pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili for questioning after she accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of fraud.

The announcement came after several EU countries criticised "irregularities" in the vote and called for an investigation. US President Joe Biden said he was "deeply alarmed" by democratic "backsliding" in the Caucasus country.

Tbilisi was plunged into political uncertainty after Saturday's election. The pro-Western opposition said the vote was "stolen" and refused to recognise its results.

Zurabishvili -- at loggerheads with the ruling party -- has declared the election results "illegitimate", alleging election interference by a "Russian special operation".

"The Prosecution Service of Georgia has launched an investigation into the alleged falsification of the parliamentary elections," prosecutors said in a statement.

It said Zurabishvili "is believed to possess evidence regarding possible falsification" and has been summoned to the investigative agency for an interview on Thursday.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze thanked prosecutors for launching the investigation and insisted that the elections were "entirely fair, free, competitive, and clean".

But opposition parties said they did not trust that the judiciary, controlled by Georgian Dream's government, will investigate the violations.

"The idea that the Russian-controlled prosecutor's office will investigate a Russian special operation that was conducted during these elections is absurd," opposition Strong Georgia alliance said in a statement.

- Opposition demands fresh vote -

Opposition parties have said they will not enter the new "illegitimate" parliament and demanded "fresh" elections run by an "international election administration."

Tens of thousands rallied in Tbilisi on Monday to protest. The United States and European Union have condemned electoral "irregularities".

Tbilisi has been rocked by protests this year over several repressive laws passed by Georgian Dream, with opponents accusing the party of steering the Caucasus country towards the Kremlin.

Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky, whose country has fought a Russian invasion for more than two years, weighed in Wednesday, saying Tbilisi -- which fought a 2008 war with Moscow -- was increasingly influenced by Russia.

"As of today, Russia won in Georgia. (Russia) took their freedom away," Zelensky said at a press conference.

He said Tbilisi now had a "pro-Russian government".

Georgian Dream has insisted it is still committed to joining the EU, but its billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili has blamed the West for the war in Ukraine.

- Partial recount -

Georgia's central election commission has said it is conducting a partial recount of ballots at some 14 percent of precincts.

Near-complete election results showed Georgian Dream won 53.9 percent of the vote, compared with 37.7 percent for an opposition coalition.

Biden said Tuesday that the vote had been marred by "voter intimidation and coercion." 

A group of Georgia's leading election monitors said they had uncovered evidence of a complex scheme of large-scale electoral fraud that swayed results in favour of the ruling party.

In an interview with AFP on Monday, president Zurabishvili claimed that "quite sophisticated" fraudulent schemes were used in the vote. 

- Georgian Dream hopes for 'reset' -

Georgian Dream's critics accuse the party of derailing efforts to join the EU and of bringing the ex-Soviet country back into the Kremlin's orbit. 

Georgia's increasingly conservative leadership has rejected claims it is taking the country away from the EU membership goal, which is enshrined in the constitution.

Prime Minister Kobakhidze insisted that joining the EU was his government's "top priority" and that he expected a "reset" with the bloc in the coming months.

Kobakhidze met on Tuesday with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the Kremlin's closest EU ally, who has retained ties with Moscow despite its Ukraine invasion. Orban travelled to Tbilisi in a show of support for Georgian Dream. 

Brussels put Tbilisi's accession process on halt after Georgian Dream passed a law this year on "foreign influence" that opponents say mirrors repressive Russian legislation.

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