Thousands rally against election result in Georgia

Opposition parties and ir supporters gared in front of parliament in Georgian capital, Tbilisi, on Sunday afteron, calling for a rerun of Saturday's parliamentary elections.

Georgia's ruling party won country's highly contested parliamentary election, according to preliminary results anunced on Sunday that opposition refused to recognise as valid, saying y were manipulated.

Thousands joined a rally to protest election results, accusing ruling party of rigging election results and intimidating voters.

Opposition leaders said y will continue with protests until ir demands are met.

Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe deemed vote “competitive” and said in a statement on Sunday that "overall, fundamental freedoms were respected" during election.

However, organisation said "pervasive allegations of pressure on voters and blurring of line between ruling party and state" reduced public's confidence in voting process.

Georgian Dream party, created by a tycoon who made his fortune in Russia, Bidzina Ivanishvili, has held a strong majority in Parliament for eight years, but its popularity has dwindled steadily amid country’s ecomic problems.

Georgian ecomy has been badly bruised by coronavirus pandemic and is expected to shrink by 5% this year.

Georgian Dream faced a challenge from an opposition coalition led by former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili’s United National Movement.

coalition fielded Saakashvili as its candidate for prime minister, but he said after vote that he would t try to get job.