People take to the streets in Tbilisi to protest results of parliamentary elections

Thousands of people have gathered near the country’s parliament to protest the preliminary results of parliamentary elections, which declared the victory of the Georgian Dream political party. This victory would allow Georgian Dream to form a cabinet for the fourth time in a row, as reported by the BBC. Both President Salome Zourabichvili and the opposition have refused to accept the final results of the elections.

Giorgi Vashadze, one of the leaders of the United National Movement opposition party, spoke on behalf of the coalition of opposition parties, calling for new elections under «the supervision of an international election administration.» He did not clarify what this administration might entail.

According to journalists covering the protest, there were thousands of people in the square in front of the parliament building. Protesters cheered on opposition leaders waving European Union flags.

President Zourabichvili also attended the event, as she was the one who announced the meeting and invited people to participate. The crowd cheered her on, chanting her name.

«We are going to fight to protect your constitutional right to vote. It’s not the time to be pessimistic. We have to stay calm and keep our chins up as we protect our votes,» she told the protesters.

She also noted that some Western leaders she had spoken to by phone also refused to accept the election results. However, Western partners of Georgia have not made any official statements to this effect.

The ruling Georgian Dream party, which is often described as pro-Russian, claimed victory in the parliamentary elections on Oct. 26. In response, President Zourabichvili stated that the results were falsified.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, on the other hand, stated that Georgian Dream received unprecedented support during the last parliamentary elections and that authorities would take every necessary measure to protect the people’s choice and counter any threat to the rule of law.

«We’ve seen it before: the opposition does not accept defeat in elections and threatens the constitutional order in our country. Let me be clear, the government remains in place, and no one will be able to undermine the rule of law,» he said.

He also stated that international observers did not find significant violations during the elections, citing a positive assessment by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) monitoring mission. The prime minister expressed hope for resetting relations with the U.S. and the EU in early 2025.

«Our goal is to ensure that 90% of our obligations related to free trade and EU accession are fulfilled by early 2028. This will bring us closer to our ultimate goal of EU membership by 2030,» Kobakhidze said.

According to preliminary data from the Central Election Commission, the ruling Georgian Dream party won the election, securing 54.08% of the votes. Four other political parties cleared the 5% threshold: Coalition for Change (10.92%), United National Movement (10.12%), Strong Georgia (8.72%) and For Georgia (7.76%).