Georgia: Alleging “Russian special operation,” president calls for protests over disputed election

Source: CNN

“Georgia’s often fractured opposition gathered at the presidential palace in Tbilisi, standing shoulder to shoulder behind the president, Salome Zourabichvili, as she defiantly announced, ‘I do not recognize these elections. Recognizing them would be tantamount to legitimizing Russia’s takeover of Georgia’ …. The government, controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party, she said, is ‘illegitimate’ and the election it carried out October 26 was a ‘complete falsification.’ … She urged Georgians to gather in protest Monday evening on the capital’s main street, Rustaveli Avenue, ‘to peacefully defend every vote and, most importantly, our future.’ The statement was a bold challenge to the Georgian Dream’s founder and now honorary chairman, the reclusive billionaire oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, who claimed victory in the parliamentary election even before all the votes were counted. Ivanishvili had vowed to ban the opposition if his party won the election, and his opponents are taking him at his word.” (10/27/24)

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/27/europe/georgia-election-russia-protests-intl-latam/index.html