Opposition supporters in the former Soviet republic of Georgia have taken to the streets over parliamentary election results that show the pro-Russian ruling party winning a majority.
Georgia’s Central Election Commission has announced that the ruling Georgian Dream party received 54 percent of the vote in Saturday’s election.
The party is seen as having a conciliatory stance toward Moscow, leading to Georgia’s worsening relations with Western nations.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who is critical of the ruling party, has maintained that Georgia should join the European Union.
She has rejected the election results, saying that there were irregularities in the vote, and called for mass rallies.
Thousands of people gathered in front of the parliament building in a central part of the capital, Tbilisi, on Monday.
They applauded when Zourabichvili and leaders of opposition parties said in their speeches that people’s votes were stolen, and that no one has a right to deprive people of their future.
One protester said that the election was rigged and stolen from Georgian citizens by the ruling party.
Another said that people took to the streets to, “say out loud that Georgia is a very European country and our future is in the EU, in the West.”
An international team of election observers has reported that some irregularities and sporadic violence have been confirmed.
The EU and the US government have called on the Georgian election commission and other relevant authorities to investigate whether there were any such irregularities or not.