October Surprise 2016 - octobersurprise2016.orgOTD Oct 30, 1927 #Yuri_Nosenko born.#KGB defector falsely accused as a Soviet plant by #Anatoliy_Golitsyn. Harshly treated, later cleared pic.twitter.com/8MJYooY6Fw
— SPIES&VESPERS (@SpiesVespers) October 30, 2024
The post @SpiesVespers: OTD Oct 30, 1927 #Yuri_Nosenko born.#KGB defector falsely accused as a Soviet plant by #Anatoliy_Golitsyn. Harshly treated, later cleared first appeared on JOSSICA – jossica.com.
The U.S. economy needs immigration, and the ebb and flow of humans is the market responding to demand. Politicians and policymakers ignore markets at their own peril, writes @MaryAnastasiaOGhttps://t.co/FILYc8GYnY
— Wall Street Journal Opinion (@WSJopinion) October 30, 2024
Georgia’s crucial parliamentary elections to elect the 150-member legislature took place on October 26. The vote followed months of anti-democratic and anti-Western drift by the ruling Georgian Dream party, leading pro-Western Georgians to bill it as a “referendum” on the country’s choice between Russia and Europe. These were the first fully-proportional elections in Georgia, as well as the first electronic elections, with about 90% of voters casting their ballots through electronic machines installed at polling stations. The 5% election threshold prompted parties to run in coalitions, and the four strongest opposition contenders signed the President’s Georgian Charter providing for a pro-EU technocratic rule (Read more about the odds and the context of the elections Here).
The main contenders with the best chance of passing the threshold included: (41) Georgian Dream (current ruling party); (5) Unity – to Save Georgia (United National Movement + Strategy Agmashenebeli); (4) Coalition for Change, (Ahali+Girchi – More Freedom+Droa); (9) Strong Georgia (Lelo for Georgia + For People + Citizens + Freedom Square); and (25) For Georgia (led by ex GD Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia).
Highcharts.chart(‘pie_2024’, {
chart: { type: ‘item’ },
title: { text: ‘Parliament Seats in 2024’ },
subtitle: { text: ‘Georgian Parliament Seats Distribution in 2024’ },
legend: {
labelFormat: ‘{name} {y}’
},
series: [{
name: ‘Representatives’,
keys: [‘name’, ‘y’, ‘color’, ‘label’],
data: [
[‘Georgian Dream’, 89, ‘#14477e’,’GD’],
[‘Coalition for Changes’, 19, ‘#bcca7a’,’CCh’],
[‘Unity-National Movement’, 16, ‘#e72727′,’U-NM’],
[‘Strong Georgia’, 14, ‘#d5c907′,’SG’],
[‘Gakharia for Georgia’, 12, ‘#42b0bd’,’Gakharia’],
],
dataLabels: {
enabled: true,
format: ‘{point.y} – {point.label}’
},
// Circular options
center: [‘50%’, ‘98%’],
size: ‘200%’,
startAngle: -90,
endAngle: 90
}]
});
The Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office reported that it had opened an investigation into the alleged rigging of the parliamentary elections on the basis of the address of the CEC under Article 164 (Interference with the work of election or referendum commissions) of the Criminal Code. It also noted that Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili was summoned for questioning on October 31 on the basis of the CEC’s statement and information disseminated online indicating that she had evidence of fraud.
the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (EaP CSF) Steering Committee issued a statement expressing concern over the conduct of the October 26 parliamentary elections in Georgia and calling for the non-recognition of the official results.
Representatives of civil society organizations announced during a meeting their decision to create an open platform where all relevant experts and pro-European parties, as well as Western partners and organizations, will work together to develop action plans and strategies for conducting a detailed and impartial international investigation into all cases of fraud identified during the elections. The platform will be used to share knowledge and experience, as well as to find ways to communicate with society to get out of the political crisis. They call on civil society, academic groups, and political parties to work together for the future of Georgia.
The CEC representative briefed society on what she called disinformation campaign. She said some “manipulative and unfounded information” is being spread in the media and on social media and has taken on the form of a campaign.
She discussed several controversial cases. These included allegations that some vote-counting machines produced results different from reality, that citizens voted massively with expired IDs, that some invalid ballots were counted, apparently in favour of the GD, etc. The CEC representative denied all these allegations.
She accused the opposition parties and President Salome Zurabishvili of making discrediting statements as if the voting technologies had been used to rig the elections.
At a briefing, Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili denied allegations of electoral fraud, saying: “These days we are witnessing the process of declaring illegitimate the elections that were meticulously conducted at the highest level.” This process, he said, is aimed at “creating a wave of protests and unrest in Georgia and developing the desired revolutionary scenario”. He added: “The government has made great efforts not to give the opponents a pretext to question the credibility of the elections.” Papuashvili dismissed the observers’ allegations and their evidence of electoral fraud, saying their photos and video footage are”pseudo-evidence.”
Papuashvili lashed out at observers, the opposition and the President, accusing them of lying while he was quoting highly disputed figures to defend GD’s victory.
The U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the U.S. joins international and local observers in calling for a full investigation into reports of election-related violations in Georgia’s October 26 elections. He did not specify that the investigating body should be the Georgian one, but said that the U.S. is consulting with European partners on what might be an appropriate body to conduct such an investigation.
Global Affairs Canada issued a statement on the parliamentary elections in Georgia, announcing a reassessment of relations and calling for an investigation into the violations identified by international observers on election day. The Government of Canada also calls on the Georgian authorities to respect the rights of peaceful demonstrators and commends Georgians for their active participation in the elections.
The Swedish Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Benjamin Dousa, told the media that the Swedish government had decided to suspend cooperation between the two countries. Sweden is one of the biggest donors of Georgia and its aid has amounted to almost USD 19 million a year. Dousa noted that cooperation could be resumed if Georgia returned to the EU path.
The United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken issued a statement on the parliamentary elections in Georgia, condemning “all contraventions of international norms” and joining the “calls from international and local observers for a full investigation of all reports of election-related violations.”
The Foreign Ministries of Latvia and Lithuania issued statements on the Georgian parliamentary elections, both questioning the electoral process. The Latvian Foreign Ministry calls for an investigation of all violations noted by local and international observers, while the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry finds it difficult to generally recognize these elections as free and fair.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs expressed solidarity with the Georgian people in a social media post, saying, “Georgian people have European dream, no one has the right to steal this dream through intimidation and manipulation. Full solidarity with the people of Georgia and President Salome Zurabishvili.”
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski in a social media post reacted to Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili’s rejection of the official election results by saying, “The President of Georgia has announced that the parliamentary elections were falsified. Europe must now stand with the Georgian people.”
“The results of the parliamentary elections may not properly reflect the will of the Georgian voters,” said the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), a key local election monitoring organization, in its closing statement on Election Day observation. According to the statement, the results of ISFED’s Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT), a statistical method used to verify official results, “are in line with the results announced by the Central Election Commission”. However, the PVT results cannot be used “as a measure of the validity of the electoral process,” ISFED argues, saying that “the violations of a fundamental nature observed on election day influenced the expression of the free will of the voters.”
According to ISFED, campaign violations such as pressure and intimidation of voters, confiscation of ID cards, collection and processing of personal data, and vote buying “significantly damaged confidence in the elections”. Among the “serious” election-day violations identified by ISFED were “ballot stuffing, multiple voting, unprecedented levels of voter bribery, expulsion of observers from polling stations, as well as instances of mobilization of voters outside polling stations, collection of their personal data and control of their voting intentions.” The watchdog says that “given the combination of these violations, the results may not reflect the will of the voters,” adding that ISFED, therefore, doesn’t plan to publish the PVT results.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili refused to recognize the election results that gave victory to the GD. At a special briefing surrounded by leaders of opposition political parties, Zurabishvili said it was a “total fraud” and a “total robbery” of votes. She said the elections were “Russian” in nature. “We were witnesses and victims of a Russian special operation,” she said, adding, “They took away our electoral institute.”
She called on citizens to gather the next day, October 28 at 19:00 on Rustaveli Avenue, near the parliament, to show the world that Georgians do not recognize the election results. “Nothing can make these elections legitimate,” she concluded.
European Council President Charles Michel called on the CEC to investigate election irregularities and said he intends to put Georgia on the agenda of the informal European Council in November.
“Following the parliamentary elections in Georgia, I intend to put Georgia on the agenda of the informal #EUCO in Budapest. We note the OSCE/ODIHR preliminary assessment and call on the Central Election Commission and other relevant authorities to fulfill their duty to swiftly, transparently, and independently investigate and adjudicate electoral irregularities and allegations thereof. These alleged irregularities must be seriously clarified and addressed. We reiterate the EU’s call to the Georgian leadership to demonstrate its firm commitment to the country’s EU path, also in line with EUCO June and October conclusions. Constructive and inclusive dialogue across the political spectrum is now paramount. The November EUCO will assess the situation and set the next steps in our relations with Georgia,” Michel tweeted.
Following the parliamentary elections in Georgia, I intend to put Georgia on the agenda of the informal #EUCO in Budapest.
We note the OSCE/ODIHR preliminary assessment and call on the Central Election Commission and other relevant authorities to fulfil their duty to swiftly,…
— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) October 27, 2024
Unity-UNM leader Tina Bokuchava said the coalition would not enter parliament. “When we said that we do not recognize the election results, this in itself means that we are not going to enter parliament,” Bokuchava said.
Yesterday, the Unity-UNM rejected the official election results after the Central Election Commission’s figures gave the victory to the GD in dramatic contradiction to two credible exit polls and against the backdrop of various electoral violations throughout the voting day.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will arrive in Tbilisi tomorrow for an official visit, the Georgian government administration reported. The visit will last for two days, Oct. 28-29. PM Orban will be accompanied by a delegation of Hungarian ministers and officials.
Hungary’s leader congratulated the ruling party on its alleged victory at a time when even preliminary results had not been announced and only conflicting exit polls were out.
The Coalition for Change’s front runner Nana Malashkhia renounced MP mandate and announced the others in the list will follow as well. “We refuse our parliamentary mandates. I, Nana Malashkhia, number one on the party list, entered politics for ideas and to protect the interests of this country. Therefore, today I renounce my parliamentary mandate… The twenty leaders of the list join me,” Nana Malashkhia said.
Senior European parliamentarians issued a joint statement with their Canadian counterpart saying “the elections were neither free nor fair” and that “the European Union cannot recognize the result.” The MPs call to sanction “those responsible for unfair electoral influence, intimidation and threats against the opposition and civil society.” Read More.
U.S. Helsinki Commission Chairman Rep. Joe Wilson called on the U.S. State Department to investigate the allegations of fraud and Russian interference in the October 26 Parliamentary elections in Georgia. “I am troubled by the credible allegations of systematic violations in the Georgian parliamentary election. I am also disturbed by the well-documented efforts by Russia to sway the election,” the Chairman said. Read More.
Strong Georgia has joined other opposition coalitions in rejecting the official election results. “This election and its results are unacceptable to us, therefore we do not recognize the results of yesterday’s elections… We will continue to protect the votes of each and every one of our citizens,” announced Strong Georgia leader Mamuka Khazaradze.
International Election Observation Mission issued its Preliminary Findings and Conclusions on the October 26 Parliamentary elections, saying that elections “unfolded amid entrenched polarization in an environment marred by concerns over recently adopted legislation, its impact on fundamental freedoms and civil society.” While “contestants could generally campaign freely “reports of pressure on voters, particularly on public sector employees, remained widespread in the campaign.” The report says that this coupled with extensive tracking of voters on election day, “raised concerns about the ability of some voters to cast their vote without fear of retribution.”
The document also says that while the legal framework provides an adequate basis for democratic elections, “recent frequent amendments marked a step backward, raising concerns over its potential use for political gain.” It is also notes the issue of the public perception of the impartiality of election administration, saying it was negatively impacted by concerns about recent amendments, which “vest control over the selection and nomination process of the CEC to the ruling party, the cancellation of the opposition-nominated deputy chairperson position, its decision-making process, as well as perceived links between non-partisan members and the ruling party.”
While noting that while the introduction of the electronic devices was supported by most stakeholders, the report says that “key stakeholders were not provided access to the audit processes and had limited access to related documentation, limiting transparency, at odds with international good practice.”
The preliminary statement by NDI says that although polling stations were generally calm and organized,
“citizen observers reported a significant increase in serious violations from the previous elections including violence, voter intimidation and instances of ballot stuffing.”
It further states that “It is clear that the pre-election period failed to meet fundamental standards for democratic elections.” It further notes that the government’s passage of the Agents’ law labeling civic actors as foreign agents and its campaign to intimidate dissenting opinion “generated a climate of fear” noting also that “ruling party leaders also threatened to criminalize opposition political parties.”
Noting that “throughout election day, reports from citizen observers provided valuable information to support our observation findings” the statement reads that “on election day, citizen observers witnessed widespread violations of the neutrality zone around polling stations by gatherings of ruling party figures and unauthorized persons” as well as intimidation of voters.”
IRI statement cites legal changes that influenced pre-election environment including the altering of the composition of the Election Commission (CEC), including the abolishment of the opposition-nominated deputy chairperson and a lower threshold for consensus-based decision-making across all commissions, adding that for the above reasons, the “trust in the independence and impartiality of the CEC is abysmally low.”
The statement talks of the use of state resources by the ruling party to “boost resources to boost its campaign and suppress voter turnout, including using local government officials to do their political bidding.” The document underlines the use of civil service and social assistance “to influence people to support the ruling party and/or to stigmatize support for other parties.”
The media landscape is characterized as “heavily biased toward GD,” with the ruling party narrative dominating the airtime, while opposition parties “struggle to gain equal media access” and independent media outlets have faced harassment.
The document raises concerns about the voter registration system, referring to the residency requirement maintained by the Central Election Commission (CEC) and the parliament, which is deemed “an unnecessary and arbitrary criterion for the parliamentary elections.” This arrangement also means that the system is “vulnerable to potential technical manipulation.”
Regarding the actual election day, the statement highlights 22 “critical incidents” spanning across Samegrelo and Zemo-Svaneti, Kakheti, Imereti, and Mtshketa-Mtianeti, as well as Tbilisi and Kvemo Kartli.
Pressure, intimidation, and harassment of voters are cited as the most prevalent forms of violation, taking place both inside and outside polling stations. The findings further claim that, in “isolated instances,” cases of vote buying, ballot stuffing, and attempts at multiple voting also occurred.
The statement also reads that certain domestic observer groups experienced “intimidation and interference in the course of their work, in some cases being ejected from polling stations.” Among the critical incidents have been captured are also cases of violence between the representatives of ruling and opposition parties and “brazen attempts at ballot stuffing.”
The statement stresses the problem of ballot secrecy “due to the prevalence of Georgian Dream video cameras within polling stations, reinforcing concerns raised by citizens regarding intimidation inside and outside polling stations.“
The European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO) assessed the election process during a briefing, saying that “the 2024 parliamentary elections in Georgia were held in a polarized and restrictive environment, undermining inclusivity, transparency, and fairness. Critical violations included violence against opposition members, voter intimidation, smear campaigns targeting observers, and extensive misuse of administrative resources. Restrictive enforcement of campaign regulations limited competition, exerted significant pressure on civil society and the media, and reduced space for government criticism.”
ENEMO emphasized that “although the election administration generally conducted the process professionally and efficiently,” there are “concerns regarding the CEC’s independence and impartiality.” The observer stressed: “The cumulative impact of these observed issues significantly compromised the democratic integrity of the election process.”
Read ENEMO’s preliminary findings and conclusions here.
For Georgia party leader, ex-PM Giorgi Gakharia held a briefing stating that the will of the Georgian people was violated in the elections, but noted, “Now is not the time of hopelessness […] we must all turn to the smart forms of protest, which will be aimed first and foremost at protecting the choice of our citizens, protecting the European future of our country, and protecting the electoral institution as such,” stressing, “Saving the election institution, saving the results of yesterday’s elections is directly connected to saving the European future of the country.”
Gakharia stated that the elections were rigged both on election day and before. “It can be stated by facts that Ivanishvili violated the will of the Georgian people,” Gakharia said, adding that the official results “of course do not reflect the will of the Georgian people.” He said the facts of the violations had been made available to local and international observer missions.
“I can tell you unequivocally that intimidation of voters, bribery of voters, manipulation of voter cards was systematic […] to steal the elections and the will of the Georgian people,” Gakharia said.
Mamuka Khazaradze, leader of the Strong Georgia coalition, reacted to the official election results in a social media post, writing, “It’s perfectly understandable what happened. Bidzina carried out a special KGB special operation. The elections were totally rigged, they took people’s votes and are preparing the country for Russia. This will not work! I will not and cannot agree with this forgery… Never!”
The head of the election watchdog ISFED, whose 1500 observers monitored the elections, Nino Dolidze, during the midday briefing, said that the elections were marked by serious violations, as there were cases of pressure, threats, illegal collection of personal data, the expulsion of observers, irregularities with voter marking procedure, breaches of vote secrecy, mobilization of unauthorized people near polling stations, cases of multiple voting and exercise of control over the voters, of not allowing observers do their job and in some instance kicking them out from the precincts, the insertion of multiple ballots into the ballot box, and others.
These violations had a serious impact on the results of the elections, according to ISFED. The watchdog also said that the manipulation and use of administrative resources by the government, as well as the use of state infrastructure, social and economic programmes for electoral purposes, the involvement of officials in pre-election agitation, the illegal collection of personal data of citizens, all had a significant impact on the results of the elections.
Dolidze also spoke about other factors that influenced the results, such as the failure of the authorities to open additional polling stations for the Georgian diaspora, recent electoral changes to the work of the CEC and its staffing, and changes to the rules governing the distribution of roles at polling stations.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze holds a post-election briefing. “The Georgian people made the only choice that had no alternative; they chose peace and the country’s development, its bright, European future,” declared Kobakhidze. He claimed that the ruling party had won with a record 1,200,000 votes. He also claimed that the elections were “peaceful,” alleging staged provocations by opposition-leaning television crews. He also thanked the Central Election Commission for “administering elections flawlessly.” He also thanked the members of the election commission. In addition, Kobakhidze expressed special gratitude to the Georgian people, who, according to the Prime Minister, “expressed their trust” in the GD. “The fate of peace for Georgia was decided in these elections, and the ‘consumers’ of peace will be all Georgian citizens without exception,” Kobakhidze said. Finally, he pledged promising economic development in the next four years, during which, according to official election data, the GD is supposed to remain in office. “Peace will bring unprecedented development to our country in the next four years,” he concluded.
The head of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, Nona Kurdovanidze, held a briefing to assess the Election Day process. She noted that the elections were held “against a background of significant violations, predominantly in an unfair, violent and tense environment”. She listed the main violations:
“The serious violations that occurred on election day and the doubts about the reliability of the procedures raise the need for the CEC to clarify – against the background of the complete list of voters loaded into the verification machines – what mechanisms can be used to say with certainty that no duplicate lists were activated in different polling stations. This issue needs to be clarified, particularly as there were serious breaches of the marking procedures,” watchdog said.
In a post-election briefing, CEC Chairman Giorgi Kalandarishvili said that the elections were successfully conducted with the use of electronic technologies. “Electronic technologies were successfully used in the elections,” he said, adding that “our planning and organization of the process was properly carried out at every stage”. He cited several statistics to prove that his words were true. For example, he said that out of up to 15,000 electronic machines used in the elections, only 20 broke down, and still in all the precincts the voting process continued. Kalandarishvili denied allegations of vote-rigging through multiple voting, specifically refuting claims that citizens voted at multiple polling stations, with their personal information logged into verification machines at more than one location.
In addition, Kalandarishvili presented official results based on 3100 out of 3111 polling stations across Georgia. The results of the parties that passed the 5 percent threshold are as follows:
With more than 99% of precincts counted, official results from the Central Election Commission give the ruling Georgian Dream party a 54.23% lead. The combined total of opposition parties that passed the 5% threshold is 37.44%, including:
“We are indignant by what the CEC dared to announce. The results they announced do not reflect the will of the Georgian people. Against the backdrop of elections conducted with nationwide intimidation and bribery, the announced figures contradict the historical and present-day choice of the Georgian people,” said Ana Dolidze, one of the leaders of Strong Georgia.
“What they have announced to us are not the real results, they have announced results that favor them, which causes our indignation,” said Aleko Elisashvili, another leader.
My Vote, a local observer mission uniting dozens of Georgian civil society organizations, said it identified a “large scheme” to rig the 2024 parliamentary elections and will demand the annulment of the official results. According to Toloraia, “It became clear that a complex scheme had been worked out to rig the elections,” using methods such as “‘breaking down the verification system, violating marking procedures, and preventing observers from monitoring the voter identification process.” My Vote pointed to “mass” incidents of voters being given two or more ballots instead of one during the first half of the day, and said there were also cases where the ruling party’s field was already marked on the ballot. The mission said it also “became clear” that numerous reports of confiscating or “renting” voters’ ID cards and collecting their personal information during the campaign were used to carry out the same rigging scheme.
According to My Vote, as of 10-11 p.m., the mission’s observers identified 347 violations of the marking process, 89 reports of violations of the secrecy of the vote, 341 cases of unauthorized persons in the polling station, and 96 cases of physical violence, threats, and confrontations, as well as 163 cases of obstruction of My Vote observers.
Opposition coalitions Unity-UNM and the Coalition for change leaders have announced on separate briefings that they are not recognizing the official preliminary results announced by the Central Election Commission.
“On behalf of the UNM, we declare that we will not recognize the results of these stolen elections… We will not give up our European future and we will not accept the stolen election results announced by the Central Election Commission,” said Tina Bokuchava, Chairperson of the UNM.
“We did not expect not to accept the results of these elections. But the elections were stolen, this is a coup and the GD is responsible for it and they will be held accountable,” Nika Gvaramia, one of the leaders of the Coalition said that the party has deciphered how the elections were stolen through technological scheme. “We are continuing to investigate because there were several ways in which the elections were stolen. Our unequivocal decision is that the GD will not remain in power, it’s a constitutional coup,” he added.
The party representatives said that according to their initial investigation into the matter, several ways were used to steal the elections, such as manipulation of the verification system assisted by the registrars who were exclusively GD members), tampering with the marking, multiple electronic voting by the same people in different precincts, for which the GD used the personal information that it had collected by taking the IDs of the voters before the elections.
The Coalition for Change office in Zugdidi was targeted by alleged government-paid thugs who threw metal objects and pots at the office and attempted to enter, but left the area as media arrived on the scene. Police and ambulances are now seen in the area. This was reportedly the second attack on the same office today.
Natia Mezvrishvili, deputy chair of the Gakharia-for Georgia party, held a briefing on alleged widespread violations on election day and said that while the party would wait for the final results, it plans to share detailed evidence of violations with local and international partners. Mezvrishvili highlighted several violations that she said impacted the official preliminary results, including vote buying, the acceptance of spoiled ballots in favor of Georgian Dream, the distribution of pre-marked ballots, and incidents of voters casting multiple ballots.
CEC announces preliminary results:
Others failed to pass the 5% threshold.
Official preliminary results are expected soon as 3,000 polling stations closed at around 8 p.m. with 58,94% turnout in Georgia’s October 26 parliamentary elections. The three exit polls showed dramatically contrasting results, leading both the ruling party and the opposition to celebrate victory.
Like the ruling party, opposition reacted to exitpolls with celebration:
Coalition for Change leader Nika Gvaramia: “According to both exit polls, Georgian Dream lost. It has less than 70 seats. The opposition wins. I hope that there will be no question marks in any of the opposition parties as to how the coalition should be formed, nor among the MPs elected by the individual opposition parties. The mandates are distributed about 85-65. These exit polls do not include the immigrant vote. Among immigrants, Georgian Dream loses significantly. It will not be a few votes, it will be up to 100 thousand votes, which will change the results of the elections with a rather negative context for [Georgian] Dream.”
For Georgia leader and ex-prime minister Giorgi Gakharia: “I expect much better results after the real counting [of ballots] begins. I want to tell you that exit polls, especially in our society, these exit polls have a decently high margin of error, that’s why there are such differences now… All kinds of celebrations should come after. Believe me, when the counting is over, our results, the results of the opposition parties as well, will be much better than the exit polls, I am sure of that.”
Coalition Strong Georgia Leader, Mamuka Khazaradze: “Congratulations on the defeat of the Russian government in Georgia. The will of the people has been expressed, now this will must be protected. It is necessary to see this through. I would like to call upon all our representatives in the precincts to protect the votes of the voters until the end, until the last minute… And another thing, today the Georgian society has ended the period of stagnation. A new period, a new life is beginning in Georgia, which is directed towards freedom, democracy and reconstruction of the country. The strength and energy aimed at building a strong Georgia are beginning to work. The most important thing is that the kleptocratic rule of Bidzina Ivanishvili has ended in Georgia…”
Tina Bokuchava, the leader of Unity-UNM, decared: “Despite the violence, Europe won and the Georgian people won. Today, no particular party has won, but the European future of the country, and the opposition has won and GD has lost. The time of Ivanishvili is over,” adding that “in this election the Georgian people voted for a coalition government” and expressed their readiness to form the coalition soon.
Addressing supporters gathered in front of the Georgian Dream office in Tbilisi, Honorary Chair of the ruling party, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili said it was a “rare occasion worldwide, for the same party to keep being successful amid such hard circumstances.” Ivanishvili claimed that in the next four years, the GD would “do a lot, and in the four years after that Georgia will be among the most successful countries in the world.” He added that “there will be no lies, no treachery, no conniving.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban congratulated Georgia’s ruling party on its alleged victory based on controversial exit poll results. Orban tweeted: “Congratulations to Prime Minister Irakli Konbakhidze and the Georgian Dream party on their overwhelming victory at the parliamentary elections today. The people of Georgia know what is best for their country, and made their voice heard today!”
Congratulations to Prime Minister @PM_Kobakhidze and the Georgian Dream party on their overwhelming victory at the parliamentary elections today. The people of #Georgia know what is best for their country, and made their voice heard today!
— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) October 26, 2024
Three exit polls released after polls closed across Georgia at 8 p.m. show conflicting results from the October 26 parliamentary elections, with two polls commissioned by opposition-leaning TV stations giving the opposition the lead, while data from pro-government Imedi TV poll projects Georgian Dream as a winner.
The mission has released the results of its election observation based on information gathered by 2000 observers between 15:00 and 17:00. The main points are that voting in the constituencies is taking place under violent pressu…
🔔 Subscribe to France 24 now: https://f24.my/YTen
🔴 LIVE – Watch FRANCE 24 English 24/7 here: https://f24.my/YTliveEN
🌍 Read the latest International News and Top Stories: https://www.france24.com/en/
Like us on Facebook: https://f24.my/FBen
Follow us on X (Twitter): https://f24.my/Xen
Browse the news in pictures on Instagram: https://f24.my/IGen
Discover our TikTok videos: https://f24.my/TKen
Get the latest top stories on Telegram: https://f24.my/TGen
The post Satanization of Diddy first appeared on The World Web Times – wwtimes.com.
The post Satanization of Diddy first appeared on October Surprise 2024 – octobersurprise-2024.org.
