Atmosphere of Hate and Intimidation: European Parliament on Georgia's Elections

The parliamentary elections in Georgia were conducted in an atmosphere of hate and intimidation. This was stated by the head of the European Parliament delegation to the elections, Spanish MEP Antonio López-Istúriz White, whose remarks are quoted in the European Parliament's press release.

He noted that Georgia is moving away from democracy. “We are concerned that the atmosphere of hate and intimidation we witnessed on election day will severely disrupt political processes in Georgia. It is very important that the violations highlighted during the voting are investigated and taken into account,” he stated.

The Georgian parliamentary elections took place on October 26. The following day, the speaker of the unicameral legislature, Shalva Papuashvili, announced that after processing 99% of the ballots, the ruling “Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia” party received 54% of the votes. This allows the political force to secure 90 out of 150 parliamentary mandates.

At the same time, four opposition political entities—“Coalition for Change,” “Strong Georgia,” “For Georgia,” and “United National Movement”—have not recognized the election results. Furthermore, members of the first party mentioned have refused their parliamentary mandates and state funding.