Georgia's PM hails 'landslide' vote condemned as rigged by president

Georgia's premier minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, has rejected allegations of vote-rigging and unit successful Saturday's election, and spoken of the disputed effect arsenic a "landslide" and a important triumph for this country, which has Russia arsenic a bluish neighbour.

"Irregularities hap everywhere," the Georgian Dream PM told the BBC's Steve Rosenberg successful an exclusive interview.

Official preliminary results from Georgia's predetermination committee gave the ruling Georgian Dream an outright bulk of 54%, contempt exit polls for absorption TV channels suggesting 4 absorption parties had won.

Georgia's pro-Western president, Salome Zourabichvili, has condemned "total falsification" of the ballot and predetermination observers person suggested the violations whitethorn person affected the result.

However, the premier curate insisted that retired of 3,111 polling stations, determination had been incidents successful "just a mates of precincts".

Georgian Dream has go progressively authoritarian, passing Russian-style laws targeting media and non-government groups who person overseas backing and the LGBT community. The European Union has responded by freezing Georgia's bid to articulation the EU, accusing it of "democratic backsliding".

However, 1 EU leader, Hungary's Viktor Orban, has been particularly speedy to congratulate the enactment connected its 4th word and is owed to question to Georgia connected Monday.

Georgian Dream says it is keen to kick-start talks connected reviving its EU bid, nevertheless the show of Orban arriving successful Tbilisi 2 days aft a contested predetermination is improbable to spell down good successful Brussels.

In an archetypal connection connected Sunday night, the caput of the European Council of EU leaders, Charles Michel, said "alleged irregularities indispensable beryllium earnestly clarified and addressed" and called for a swift, transparent and autarkic investigation.

"Of people we person to code these irregularities happening connected the time of the predetermination oregon before," the Georgian premier curate told the BBC. "But the wide contented of the elections was successful enactment with ineligible principles and the rule of antiauthoritarian elections."

The 4 absorption groups person refused to recognise the predetermination result, condemning it arsenic falsified, and they person accused the ruling Georgian Dream enactment of stealing the vote.

They volition present clasp 61 seats successful the 150-seat parliament, portion Georgian Dream volition person 89 - a bulk but not large capable to enact the benignant of law alteration it wanted, to transportation retired its menace to prohibition absorption parties.

Two of the 4 absorption groups, Coalition for Change and United National Movement, person said they volition boycott parliament, and the others are apt to travel suit.

Protests are besides expected to instrumentality spot successful the coming days and President Zourabichvili, who backed the opposition, said Georgians had to basal unneurotic successful saying they did not judge the result.

Kobakhidze accused the absorption of lying, arguing that they had said the ballot had been falsified successful 2016, 2020 and 2021. "Of people they person present nary different way, truthful they person to archer their supporters that either they were lying oregon the authorities rigged the elections."

An physics vote-counting strategy was utilized for the archetypal clip connected Saturday, and the premier curate said that made the predetermination intolerable to rig: "There is zero abstraction for manipulation."

The president of Georgia's predetermination committee who oversaw the caller strategy hailed the ballot arsenic mostly peaceful and free, but a precise antithetic representation has emerged from monitoring groups that person presented their archetypal findings.

Georgia's Isfed radical reported a litany of violations, including bribery, intimidation and ballot-stuffing.

Per Eklund, a erstwhile EU ambassador who was portion of the National Democratic Institute delegation, said it was wide the pre-election play successful peculiar had failed to conscionable antiauthoritarian standards: "Voter intimidation... up to and connected predetermination time severely undermined the process."

Kobakhidze besides utilized his interrogation with the BBC's Russia Editor to impeach the absorption of falsely accusing the authorities of being pro-Russian and "pro-Putinist", successful a bid to harm its estimation with Georgia's 3.7 cardinal colonisation which is overwhelmingly pro-European.

Russian commentators person wide welcomed Georgian Dream's triumph arsenic an denotation that Georgia volition statesman to pivot backmost to Moscow.

However, Irakli Kobakhidze told the BBC that Georgia was the lone state successful its portion with nary diplomatic relations with Russia, due to the fact that of Russian concern of 20% of Georgian territory since the five-day warfare successful 2008.