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Georgia election ‘stolen by Putin’s puppet government’

International observers fear widespread irregularities in voting which appeared to give the ruling pro-Russia Georgian Dream party the edge

Vladimir Putin was accused of helping steal power in Georgia via the backdoor after elections marred by vote buying, ballot stuffing and violence.
It is the second time in a week that Russia is said to have had a hand in meddling with a vote in a Western-leaning state after Moldova’s EU election was heavily skewed.
Various international observers raised concerns of widespread irregularities in Georgia’s voting, which appeared to give the ruling pro-Russia Georgian Dream party the edge despite polls showing the opposite.
“The picture emerging from Georgia is clear – yesterday’s election has been stolen by Putin’s puppet government in Tbilisi,” Boris Johnson said on Sunday as video evidence emerged of interference at the ballot. 
“I back the people of Georgia as they stand up for their freedom, their rights and their future,” he added.
Alicia Kearns, the shadow foreign minister, said in a post: “The people of Georgia deserve free and fair elections.”
Salome Zourabichvili, the Georgian president, later added that she did not recognise the results. She referred to the vote as a “Russian special operation” and called for protests.
Georgian Dream, led by billionaire oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, won about 54 per cent of the vote with more than 99 per cent of ballots counted, according to the country’s Central Election Commission.
But the pro-Western opposition has refused to accept the result and accused Mr Ivanishvili and his party of stealing the election which may decide the country’s future in the EU.
The opposition’s claims of fraud received a boost when two international observation missions issued reports detailing widespread party-organised interference and intimidation.
Accusations of irregularities began to circulate almost as soon as voting began early on Saturday. In one widely shared clip, a representative of the ruling party is seen allegedly shoving a handful of voting sheets into a ballot box in the southern region of Marneuli.
The election commission cancelled voting at the polling station after the vote-stuffing, invalidating every ballot cast. Georgian Dream won the ethnic minority dominated region with an 80 per cent margin.
International observers said there had been several reports of voter intimidation at polling stations, including some that escalated into violent brawls.
At a different polling place in Marneuli, a video shows a group of men attacking the local chairman of an opposition party as he investigates allegedly falsified votes. The victim in the video, Azat Karimov, was later taken to hospital.
The international election monitors also reported claims of vote buying. In another video published by the pro-opposition television Formula, green-vested poll workers appear to hold a paper listing the names of voters who had been paid off.
Concerns were also raised over ruling party affiliates lingering outside polling places and installing cameras to watch how people voted.
Iulian Bulai, head of the delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, said one observer remarked that Georgian Dream made it feel like “Big Brother is watching”.
The Telegraph spotted a camera while visiting a polling station in Tbilisi’s upscale Vake neighbourhood, though it was not in a position to spy on voters’ ballots.
Dan Twining, the president of the International Republican Institute, an American non-profit that observed the election, said at a news briefing: “This is a flawed election. Whether it is a credible election is for the citizens of Georgia to decide.”
A separate mission of European observers expressed concern that the results showed Georgian Dream continuing a path of “democratic backsliding”, which has recently stalled its prospects for integration into the European Union.
The German Foreign Office endorsed the European delegation’s findings in a post on X, noting that the “handling of the election outcome and government formation will also affect the future progress of Georgia and its European path”.
While Georgian Dream has recently cracked down on civil society and made promises to ban opposition parties, the observers said much of the vote was manipulated.
One high school principal said that party representatives pressured her to vote for them and provide lists of people working under her. She said she was dismissed from her position after voicing opposition to the Ukraine war and endorsing an opposition party. Byline Times previously reported the incident.
The European mission said it found evidence of Georgian Dream pressuring public employees and people dependent on social benefits in 16 different municipalities.

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