Opposition leader Nika Melia, the United National Movement’s Tbilisi mayoral candidate, has called on supporters to gather outside the Parliament building at 19:00 to discuss “concrete plan” to fight against “rigged elections.”
In his short announcement in Lelo party office earlier this afternoon, Melia said mayoral runoffs yesterday went against the backdrop of “total violence,” the process that also included “total rigging” of the vote.
No one should expect the government of Georgian Dream founder, former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili to be forgiven “this rigged election, won by soul-crunching insult [to voters],” the UNM leader noted.
Stressing the need for “very peaceful, but steadfast fight,” Melia concluded: “The fight did not end but began yesterday.”
- 100% Counted: GD Wins 19 Mayoral Races, Loses Tsalenjikha
- Tumultuous Runoffs: Journalists Under Attack
With all precincts counted in the Central Election Commission, the ruling Georgian Dream party candidates are winning 19 out of 20 mayoral races, including Tbilisi and other key city races. GD lost only Tsalenjikha municipality of western Samegrelo region to UNM.
Key election watchdogs Transparency International Georgia and International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) said today election results were possibly affected by violations.
Meanwhile, the Georgian Dream is celebrating “well deserved” victory in runoffs. GD MP Nino Tsilosani said in the local election runoffs yesterday “our society declared that Mikheil Saakashvili [ex-President] is arrested within the law.”
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