Opposition MPs refused their mandates in Georgia. They do not recognize the election results

MPs of the opposition coalitions "Unity — National Movement" and "For Changes" in Georgia leave the new parliament. They accuse the ruling Georgian Dream party of falsifications during the October 2024 elections.

This was reported by the Georgian media SOVA.

Opposition politicians are convinced that the vote was "stolen" by the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, the election results were falsified, and therefore the Parliament of Georgia of the 11th convocation is illegitimate.

"We want to officially, each of us who was on the parliamentary list of ʼUnity — National Movementʼ, send an individual letter to the Central Election Commission so that none of the candidates are registered and that the CEC does not transfer our powers to the Parliament of Georgia, even for the purpose of considering the issue," says the leader of the "National Movement" party Tina Bokuchava.

The MP noted that the representatives of the parliaments of eight countries of the European Union did not recognize the elections in the country as legitimate. Allies also insisted that it was necessary to investigate the alleged facts of falsification.

Members of the "For Change" coalition also withdrew their parliamentary list. They also refused mandates. As one of the leaders of the party union Nika Gvaramiya said, all 85 politicians on the electoral list will sign the document.

"We — all those on this list — refuse to cooperate in any way with the regime that steals elections and promotes the interests of the Russian Federation, our only enemy in this world, in our homeland," Gvaramiya said.

How the elections were held in Georgia

Parliamentary elections in Georgia were held on October 26, 2024. According to the Central Election Commission (CEC), the pro-ruling party "Georgian Dream — Democratic Georgia" won with 53.9% of the vote. According to Georgian laws, this party gets the right to single-handedly form the government.

The barrier of 5% was overcome by four more pro-Western opposition parties: "Coalition for Changes" — 10.92%, "Unity — National Movement" — 10.12%, "Strong Georgia" — 8.78% and "Gakharia — for Georgia" — 7.76%. The opposition did not agree with the results and started holding protests.

At the beginning of November, the court of the city of Tetri-Tskaro in the south of Georgia satisfied the lawsuit to annul the results of the October 26 parliamentary elections. The reason is a violation of the secrecy of the vote. The invalidity of the results was established at 30 polling stations.

Later, the Tbilisi Court of Appeal overturned the decision of judge Volodymyr Khuchua, who confirmed the violation of the secrecy of voting in the parliamentary elections.

What European partners say

The OSCE representatives stated that the election process in Georgia violated international democratic standards. Observers noticed cases of bribery of votes, double voting, physical violence and intimidation of voters, but the fact of direct falsifications was not confirmed. The head of the European Council, Charles Michel, called for an investigation into the parliamentary elections in Georgia.

On October 28, an action by opposition supporters took place in Tbilisi, where the current president Salome Zurabishvili emphasized the illegitimacy of the elections. One of the leaders of the "United National Movement" party Georgy Vashadze said at the rally that the opposition demands re-elections, which will be held by the international administration. On October 29, the Central Election Commission of Georgia declared that it would count the ballots of five polling stations (approximately 14% of the polling stations) in each electoral district to verify the data.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated that the country "carefully observed the course of the parliamentary elections" in Georgia and supports the conclusions of the international OSCE mission, which recorded numerous violations.

The agency also called for an investigation into the vote to ensure the legitimacy of the election and avoid a political crisis.

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