Thousands rally against election result in Georgia

Opposition parties and their supporters gathered in front of the parliament in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, on Sunday afternoon, calling for a rerun of Saturday's parliamentary elections.

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

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

Opposition leaders said they will continue with the protests until their demands are met.

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

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

The 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 the country’s economic problems.

The Georgian economy has been badly bruised by the 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.

The coalition fielded Saakashvili as its candidate for prime minister, but he said after the vote that he would not try to get the job.