The President of Georgia has repeatedly stated that the parliamentary elections in Georgia held on October 26 were rigged. In an interview with Euronews after her speech at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Salome Zourabichvili reiterated her promise not to resign on December 29, the day when the inauguration of the newly elected president from the "Georgian Dream," Mikheil Kavelashvili, is set to take place.
"My mandate continues because the Constitution states that it ends with the inauguration of the president. But this president must be elected by a college, a parliament, which itself must be legitimate, which is not the case. Therefore, I will continue (to perform my duties) until the next elections," she said.
"The elections were rigged"
The current president is convinced that the people of Georgia will support her and is not afraid of being ousted by force, even if she loses her security detail. "My legitimacy is provided by my election, the trust and confidence of citizens. It does not depend on a building or a security service or anything material that they may or may not provide," Zourabichvili said, referring to the ruling party "Georgian Dream." "Of course, they will not accept this. They have not accepted it before."
Zourabichvili reiterated her call for a new vote, stating that the elections held on October 26 were falsified and marred by Russian interference.
She claimed that "Georgian Dream" should have received between 30% and 35% of the votes, not the 53% reported by the Central Election Commission.
According to Zourabichvili, various methods were used for the falsifications, including ballot stuffing with new electronic machines, intimidation, and vote buying.
In just one month, she said, about $200 million of black money entered the country. "And this is only what we know, because at that time the central bank had to sell dollar reserves, and there were no other explanations," she stated.
She mentioned that "Georgian Dream" laid the groundwork for election fraud by passing a law intended to pressure the funding of non-governmental organizations, making them less prepared to monitor the elections.
"So it was a complex, well-planned, well-designed operation supported by Russian propaganda."Salome Zourabichvili President of Georgia
Russia has rejected any accusations of interference in the parliamentary elections in Georgia.
"This has become the standard for many countries, and at the slightest provocation, they immediately accuse Russia of interference. No, this is not true, there was no interference, and the accusations are completely unfounded," said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov a few days after the voting.
"A new form of invasion from Russia"
Zourabichvili stated that she is not afraid of a Russian invasion of Georgia, partly because Russian troops are already on Georgian territory, referring to Abkhazia and South Ossetia. However, she said that Russia is experimenting with "hybrid invasion through elections, through proxies, through authoritarian governance."
She urged the EU to act quickly and not to allow relations with the Georgian authorities to continue "as if nothing happened" (business as usual). This government "lies to its people, saying that they will return to the European path anyway, while creating a truly authoritarian state of the Russian type," she emphasized.
The ruling party has not openly refused to join the EU but announced on November 28 the suspension of membership negotiations until the end of 2028. This decision has led to ongoing mass protests, followed by violent crackdowns, street clashes, arrests of opposition members, and numerous reports of injuries.
So far, Europe is "slowly waking up and slowly responding," Zourabichvili stated during her speech in the European Parliament. While MEPs called for new elections in her country, EU member states proposed to suspend the visa-free regime for Georgian holders of diplomatic and service passports. However, they were unable to agree on imposing EU sanctions against Georgian officials, as this step was blocked by the veto of Hungary and Slovakia.
"I know how difficult it is [to find] consensus on making a decision for more direct measures," Zourabichvili commented. "But I also think that the EU cannot allow one country to determine its foreign policy in such a strategically important region for the European Union as the Caucasus."
Therefore, she urged the EU to intensify its response and support her now. She defended her position while meeting with MEPs and EU officials in Parliament after her speech.
"Some people ask me if I plan to go into exile, saying they would be very happy to support me. But no, I will be in Georgia, and they should support me in Georgia along with the Georgian population."