Several parties have refused to accept defeat in the parliamentary vote
Demonstrators wave EU and Ukrainian national flags as they gather during an opposition protest against the results of the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, October 28, 2024. © AP Photo / Zurab Tsertsvadze Crowds of protesters have gathered in the center of Georgia’s capital Tbilisi, after the country’s pro-Western opposition parties declared they are rejecting the official results of parliamentary elections, alleging irregularities. Preliminary results of Sunday’s elections showed the ruling Georgian Dream party atracted almost 54% of the vote, while no opposition party got more than 11%. President Salome Zourabichvili has denounced the election as illegitimate and called for protests in the streets to force the government to call a new election. Calling for the protests, Zourabichvili had told Georgians that their votes had been “stolen” and accused Georgian Dream of attempting to “steal the future” of the country. She also claimed to have spoken with multiple foreign governments that are also refusing to recognize the election as legitimate. 28 October 2024 17:17 GMT A regional security source has told TASS that “snipers trained in Ukraine” have arrived in Georgia to possibly stage a false-flag event during the protest. During the US-backed coup in Kiev, nationalists claimed that government snipers fired on the peaceful demonstrators, which was used as a trigger for the violent overthrow of the elected government. Live streams from outside the parliament in Tbilisi on Monday evening showed some of the protesters waving Ukrainian flags. Several people were spotted wearing military uniforms with Georgian and Ukrainian flag patches, fueling speculation about the possible presence of militants from the ‘Georgian Legion’, a unit fighting on behalf of Kiev. More
