Georgia prosecutors investigating allegations of election fraud

State prosecutors say probe comes at request of electoral commission as they summon President Salome Zurabishvili who alleges Russian interference.

State prosecutors in Georgia say they have launched an investigation into opposition allegations of “falsification” in recent parliamentary elections won by the governing Georgian Dream party.

The prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Wednesday that it has also summoned President Salome Zourabichvili, who has repeatedly said the vote count was falsified.

The European Union criticised “irregularities” in Saturday’s vote and called for an investigation. United States President Joe Biden said he was “deeply alarmed” by democratic “backsliding” in the country.

The electoral commission announced that Georgian Dream won with 54 percent of the vote, amid protests from the pro-Western opposition that denounced the election as a “constitutional coup”.

The prosecutor’s office said the investigation was being opened at the request of the electoral commission, which had previously said that the election was free and fair.

Zourabichvili, who “is believed to possess evidence regarding possible falsification … has been summoned to the investigative agency for an interview” on Thursday, it added.

Zourabichvili declared the election results “illegitimate”, alleging election interference by a “Russian special operation”, a claim that was rejected by the Kremlin.

Election observers, including from the 57-nation Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), have said that the vote was marred by incidents of voter intimidation, bribery and ballot stuffing that could have affected the result, but stopped short of calling it rigged.

Georgian media on Tuesday reported that the electoral commission called the allegations of fraud “baseless criticism”.

The commission said, however, that it would conduct a recount at a small number of randomly selected polling stations.

Tens of thousands of people rallied in the capital, Tbilisi, on Monday to protest against the results, which showed Georgian Dream won 1.12 million votes, 335,000 more than the four main opposition parties combined, which received about 37 percent of votes.

Opposition parties have said they would not enter the new “illegitimate” parliament and demanded “fresh” elections run by an “international election administration”.

Tbilisi has been rocked by protests this year over several repressive laws passed by Georgian Dream, with opponents accusing the party of steering the Caucasus country towards Russia.

The election was cast as a choice between a party that has deepened ties with Russia, and an opposition that had hoped to fast-track integration with the EU.

The 27-nation European bloc froze Georgia’s accession process after Georgian Dream passed a law this year on “foreign influence” that opponents say mirrors Russian legislation.