Opposition leaders said at a rally that the authorities had completely falsified the results of the October 31 elections, so opposition candidates refused to accept the seats and called for new elections.
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Television footage shows police interfering in a peaceful demonstration and using tear gas and water throwers without warning.
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Water throwers were also aimed at journalists filming what was happening at close range.
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Georgia’s ombudsman called on police to stop using disproportionate force against protesters.
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On Sunday afternoon, some 45,000 protesters in the capital gathered near the parliament building to demand new elections. Many protesters covered their faces with masks.
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Later in the evening, the protesters went to the Central Election Commission building.
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Protests also took place in Batumi on Sunday.
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The ruling party, Georgia’s Dream, won 48% of the vote in the elections, while a coalition of eight-party opposition forces won 52% of the vote in a proportional vote of 120 out of 150 seats in parliament.
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PHOTO: ZURAB KURTSIKIDZE / EPA
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Elections were also held in 30 single-member constituencies, 14 of which the ruling party won in the first round. On November 21, the second round will take place in 16 single-member districts.
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The distribution of power is such that the “Georgia Dream” has a majority in parliament that allows the party to form a new government.
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Georgia’s dream leader, former prime minister billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, has said his party has “won elections for the third time in a row”.
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However, the opposition leader, former President Mikheil Saakashvili, who currently lives in Ukraine and chairs the country’s working group on political and economic reforms, Volodymyr Zelensky, said the Georgia dream had massively falsified the election results and called on opposition supporters to “mobilize”.
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International observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly reported that the elections were far from perfect, but that “fundamental freedoms have been respected”.
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Local observers reported various irregularities, including re-voting and falsification of results.
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The Georgian branch of Transparency International said the election was a setback for Georgian democracy, but the GYLA, which conducted the election observation, reported serious irregularities.
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