Both the partial count and the investigations are “attempts to legitimize this election internationally,” Stefan Malerius, head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s Georgia office in Tbilisi, told ORF.at. Malerius said the Election Commission and the Public Prosecutor’s Office are “totally subordinate to the government and only act on instructions”. “We don’t have an independent Election Commission, we don’t have an independent judiciary here,” he says.
The state prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday that President Jurapishvili, who has been critical of the government, has been “summoned” to a hearing on Thursday – to look into the allegations he made. The president said the announced decision amounted to interference in the form of a “Russian special operation.” The state prosecutor’s office considers Jurapishvili to have “evidence of possible forgeries.”
International recognition is required
The government absolutely needs the international legitimacy of these elections, which is why everything is being done to give the impression that it is transparent and has nothing to hide, says the Georgian expert. The international community needs to know that the allegation of fraud is “disinformation and propaganda by the opposition and independent election observers”.
For the ruling Georgian Dream party, legitimizing the election in front of the people and externally – above all in front of the EU. This is important because Georgia depends on cooperation with the EU, Malarius told ORF.at. At the same time, the main goal of the opposition is precisely to prevent this legitimacy from within and without.
The election monitoring mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and NATO also expressed skepticism about the official result. Allegations were limited to vote counting – instead, complaints were made of uneven conditions in the election campaign, attacks on opposition parties, vote-buying and voter pressure.
Look for evidence
Some EU governments criticized “irregularities” in the referendum. EU Council President Charles Michel called for allegations of fraud to be investigated “quickly, transparently and independently”. After the election, US President Joe Biden expressed “deep concern” about “voter intimidation” and warned of setbacks for democracy in Georgia.
After nearly all the votes were counted, the election commission declared the increasingly authoritarian Georgian Dream, which is increasingly turning its attention to Russia, as the winner with 53.9 percent of the vote. The pro-European opposition coalition will have around 37.8 percent. When it comes to allegations of electoral fraud, opposition parties are talking about twelve percent of the vote, Malarius says – which corresponds to about 250,000 to 300,000 votes.
However, as far as allegations of electoral fraud are concerned, the expert says, “nobody has any evidence at the moment” – if there is, civil society, the opposition and election observers are currently working on it. “At this point, a lot depends on these resources.” Because the EU will only describe an election as illegal if there is real evidence.
The commission confirms Georgia’s withdrawal
Criticism of the government is now coming from Brussels. The EU Commission said on Wednesday that Georgia had taken “significant steps backwards” since becoming an EU candidate country at the end of 2023. The government has once again been asked to withdraw two controversial laws: the “Agents Act” that restricts NGOs and the media, and the LGBTQ Act, which restricts the rights of sexual minorities.
At the same time, the EU wants to conditionally include the break with Russia in the future. On Wednesday, EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell appealed specifically to Georgia for a decision. Candidates for membership cannot maintain relations with Russia and “expect their own country to become part of the EU,” Borrell said.
“The European Union is committed to further deepening its partnership with Georgia, in line with the wishes of the majority of the Georgian people,” the commission said. “Unless Georgia departs from its current approach and does not jeopardize its path to the EU (…), the Commission will not be in a position to recommend opening negotiations with Georgia.”
