The official results showed the victory of the pro-Russian party Georgian Dream.
On Tuesday, the Georgian Constitutional Court rejected President Salome Zurabishvili’s request to declare the October parliamentary elections unconstitutional, reports Reuters citing the Russian TASS agency.
According to the official results, the ruling pro-Russian party Georgian Dream won the October elections, but the vote was marred by irregularities, which the president, the opposition and the West called for an investigation. “The Constitutional Court of Georgia did not accept the lawsuits of the president and political parties regarding the recognition of the elections of October 26 as unconstitutional,” the court announced on Tuesday.
After the aforementioned elections, protests broke out in Georgia, which intensified after last week’s announcement by Prime Minister Irakli Kobachidze about the suspension of negotiations on joining the European Union until 2028. Kobachidze declared on Monday that Tbilisi will also seek to join the EU despite the government’s decision to suspend accession negotiations. However, he refused to discuss the matter with the opposition.
Since his announcement on Thursday, mass anti-government and pro-European demonstrations have been taking place in the country, and especially in Tbilisi, every evening. The police deploy tear gas and water cannons at the protests. Dozens of injured and detained are reported daily from Georgia.
The Baltic countries reacted to the situation on Monday, imposing sanctions on 11 Georgian political leaders precisely for suppressing protests. The head of EU diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, announced that similar sanctions are being considered by the entire Eurobloc.
