The head of the Central Election Commission of Georgia was doused with paint during the announcement of the official election results
On November 16, it became known that at the beginning of the meeting of the Central Election Commission of Georgia, during which the results of the parliamentary elections were officially approved, happened the incident – the head of the Central Committee, George Kalandarishvili, was doused with black paint. During the announcement of the election results, which confirmed the victory of the pro-ruling party “Georgian Dream” with 53.93% of the votes, the representative of the opposition “United National Movement” David Kirtadze approached the head of the commission and doused him with black paint.
“You are a shame, the shame of our country and a black spot“, Kirtadze said to the head of the CEC.
In addition, he called the head of the Election Center “krapka.ru”.
The opposition candidate accused Kalandarishvili of being alienated from the position of the Georgian people and moving the country towards Russia. According to Kirtadze, the authorities ignore the opinions of students and other protesters. The incident caused a scuffle in the hall, after which the meeting was interrupted. It was soon restored, and the Central Election Commission officially confirmed the election results.
According to the results of the voting, the ruling party “Georgian Dream” won 89 seats in the parliament, and the opposition forces together received 61 mandates. Among them are “Coalition for Changes”, “United National Movement”, “Strong Georgia” and “Gakharia – for Georgia”. However, four opposition parties did not recognize the results, claiming falsifications and violations of the secrecy of the vote.
Parliamentary elections held on October 26 caused a wave of protests in the country. Earlier, the court in the city of Tetri-Tskaro invalidated the results of voting in several polling stations, due to violations of the process. However, the Tbilisi Court of Appeal overturned this decision, and the Central Election Commission announced a partial recount of votes in a number of precincts.
European partners have also expressed concern. OSCE observers stated that the election process in Georgia did not meet democratic standards. They recorded cases of bribery of voters and violations of security, although they did not confirm direct falsifications. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs supported the conclusions of the OSCE, noting that it closely followed the course of the elections in Georgia.
