Georgia’s top court refuses to annul election results
Georgia's highest court on Tuesday dismissed lawsuits filed by the country's president, Salome Zourabichvili, and pro-Western opposition parties, demanding an annulment of the recent general election which was won by the ruling Georgian Dream party.
The Constitutional Court’s decision, which is final and cannot be appealed, was opposed by only two of its 9 judges.
“The Constitutional Court of Georgia did not accept the lawsuits of the president and political parties regarding the recognition of the October 26 elections as unconstitutional,” the body said in a statement.
The election results are the subject of ongoing protest by the nation’s pro-Western president and opposition, who allege widespread fraud, though having failed thus far to provide any evidence to support their claims. The vote reinforced the position of Georgian Dream, with the party now enjoying a comfortable majority in parliament.
Georgia has been enduring mass protests over the election outcome since early November, and the country faces mounting pressure from abroad. The unrest further escalated last week after PM Irakli Kobakhidze announced that he would freeze accession talks with the EU until 2028.
The French-born Zourabichvili has refused to step down from office, though the constitution obliges her to recognize the upcoming presidential election on December 14th. She has responded by calling for further protests and even urging schoolchildren to join them, despite the aggressive tactics being used by some demonstrators.
“I remain your President! There is no legitimate parliament that will elect a new president,” she insisted in a video address on Saturday. “My mandate continues until there is a legitimately elected parliament that will legitimately elect a President who will replace me!”
Under the 2017 Georgian Constitution, the head of state, who holds mostly ceremonial powers, is to be chosen by an electoral college consisting of 300 members. Half of it is composed of MPs, with the rest selected from representatives of various Georgian regions.
The ongoing violent unrest in the centre of the capital is being openly supported by the EU, with the bloc's new foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, calling the protests legitimate and threatening Tbilisi with “consequences” for trying to quell them.
“It is clear that using violence against peaceful protesters is not acceptable, and the Georgian government should respect the will of the Georgian people,” she stated.
