Tbilisi uprising after elections

How many hold the pro-Russian government responsible for fraud that overturned the exit-poll results are pouring into the streets of downtown Tbilisi amid rising tension. President Zurabišvili and leaders of the opposition (which appeared divided into four different parties) do not recognize the results, which give the Georgian Dream 53.92 percent of the vote in a divided country. The Kremlin cries "destabilization on behalf of the Europeans."

Tbilisi (AsiaNews) - As was widely expected, the outcome of Georgia's elections has led to a sharp split in the country, between those who support the pro-Russian Georgian Dream government, which was proclaimed the winner of the parliamentary contest, and those in favor of European integration, who see French-Georgian President Salome Zurabišvili as the opposition's point of reference.

After allegations of blatant electoral fraud, those who hold the government responsible for rigging are pouring into the streets of downtown Tbilisi, in a growing tension that is unclear how far it may lead Georgian society.

The Kremlin reacted immediately through the voice of Dmitry Peškov, declaring itself alien to any interference in the Georgian elections, indeed accusing Zurabišvili of "trying to destabilize the situation by acting on behalf of the Europeans," when the elections are "an internal affair of Georgia." In his view, these influences "are visible without bias, and they certainly do not come from Russia," while the election results "simply express the will of the people."

The Georgian president said that she does not recognize the results of the elections, what according to Peškov "does not seem to me to be within her competence, and in any case it is an internal affair of Georgia." Eighteen parties participated in the elections in an attempt to pass the 5 percent threshold. The Georgian Dream according to the Election Committee reached 53.92 percent, still lower than the 60 percent announced that would have determined the "constitutional majority" needed to outlaw all opposition parties.

These lined up at 11 percent for the "Coalition for Change," 10.16 percent for the "National Movement"-the party of former President Mikhail Saakašvili, who is currently imprisoned-8.81 percent for "Strong Georgia" and 7.77 percent for the "For Georgia" party, remaining overall under 40 percent of the votes cast.

President Zurabišvili and opposition leaders have decided not to recognize the results, calling them a "total falsification" and calling people to the streets without bothering to make legal appeals, with Saakašvili himself inciting everyone to protest from his prison cell.

The political conflict has lasted since 2012, when pro-Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanišvili founded the Georgian Dream after years of conflict with Russia over disputed autonomist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Salome Zurabišvili had served as Georgia's foreign minister between 2004 and 2005, having made a career in French diplomacy, having been born in Paris to a Georgian family and having served as an official at France's embassies in Italy, the U.S., Chad, and at NATO.

Since she was elected president of Georgia, she has repeatedly criticized the Georgian Dream, up to the recent approvals of laws against "foreign influences" and "Lgbt propaganda."

The speaker of the Tbilisi parliament, Šalva Papuašvili, accuses the president of "seeking the ruin of the country," denying all allegations of electoral fraud, and saying that "when disinformation is spread from the presidential palace for the purpose of leading people into confusion, and playing with their emotions, it is clear that Mrs. Zurabišvili is involved in some plan to destroy the country."

Papuašvili also accused the Edison Research company, which produced the exit-polls at the end of the elections, of manipulating the results to damage the victory of the Georgian Dream, to which he initially attributed only 40.9 percent against the 51.9 percent of the oppositions, who in the end did not recognize the results proclaimed by the Election Committee and rejected the parliamentary mandates they obtained. Everything remains open, awaiting the outcomes of popular protests and government reactions.