The Prime Minister of Georgia assures that the new Parliament will meet with or without the support of the president

The opposition denounces electoral fraud in Saturday’s elections

Oct. 27 () –

The Prime Minister of Georgia for the Georgian Dream party, Irakli Kobajidze, stated this Sunday that the new Parliament, emerging from the controversial elections on Saturday and in which his party would have an absolute majority, will meet within a period of ten days from the conclusion of the elections with or without the approval of the president and political rival, Salome Zurabishvili, who should call the session.

“Legally, there is a period of ten days to convene the inaugural session. On the tenth day, Parliament will meet on its own initiative. The president will not have any means of sabotage without grossly violating the Constitution,” Kobajidze stated, according to the agency. Georgian news station InterPressNews.

“The president has only formal powers. She can grossly violate the Constitution, but she cannot block the first session of Parliament. The president of Parliament and the Bureau will convene the session,” Kobajidze said.

President Zurabishvili, aligned with the pro-European opposition, has met with political representatives of the opposition at the Orbelian Palace and announced that she will address the nation tonight at 9:00 p.m.

“We have held an important meeting with the president. We have maintained intense contacts that will continue in the coming hours. I hope that there will be absolute unity among the pro-Western forces,” highlighted the president of the United National Movement, Tina Bokuchava, after meeting with the president. Zurabishvili.

Bokuchava has reiterated that his party does not recognize the official results. “We all know very well that the European option won yesterday’s elections. People have given their trust to the pro-Western ones to govern and not to the Russian single-party regime of Ivanishvili,” he added, referring to the founder and shadow leader of Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Mamuka Jazaradze, from the Strong Georgia coalition, has also denounced electoral fraud. “It is totally evident what has happened. Bidzina has carried out a special operation by the KGB – the former Soviet secret services -. She has completely falsified the elections, they have appropriated the people’s votes and the country has been left at the mercy of Russia,” Jazaradze posted on Facebook.

The latest data published by the Central Electoral Commission gives the Georgian Dream party a total of 89 of the 150 seats that make up the unicameral Georgian Parliament thanks to 54.08 percent of votes. The Coalition for Change will have 18 seats, Unity-National Movement will have 17, Strong Georgia will have 14 seats and Gajaria for Georgia, 12, according to official data that is still provisional corresponding to the count of 3,100 of the 3,111 electoral districts.

The Central Electoral Commission has highlighted that the American audit company Pro V&V “confirms that the electronic voting machines have worked correctly,” according to the agency.