Georgia braces for protests after contested vote

Georgia braced for protests on Monday, after the pro-EU opposition called for mass demonstrations, accusing the ruling party of "stealing" this weekend's parliamentary election in what the Caucasus country's president called a "Russian special operation."

The tiny Caucasus country -- rocked by mass protests earlier this year -- was plunged into political uncertainty in the hours after the vote, with both Brussels and Washington denouncing "irregularities".

The ruling Georgian Dream party has for months been accused by the opposition of steering Tbilisi away from its goal of joining the EU and back into Russia's orbit.

According to near final results announced by the electoral commission, Georgian Dream won 54.08 percent of the vote, compared with 37.58 of the votes taken by the pro-EU coalition.

The opposition has said the vote was unfair and has refused to concede defeat to a party it accuses of pro-Kremlin authoritarianism.

Opposition politicians have said they would renounce their mandates and will not enter the newly elected parliament.

"We are witnesses and victims of a Russian special operation, a modern form of hybrid war against the Georgian people," President Zurabishvili said Sunday.

She joined opposition calls -- including from jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili who led mass protests 20 years ago that first set Georgia on a pro-EU path -- for protests.

International observers said Saturday's election was "marred by an uneven playing field, pressure and tension".

An EU parliament mission also expressed concern about "democratic backsliding", saying it had seen instances of "ballot box stuffing" and the "physical assault" of observers.

- 'Time for mass protests' -

Several opposition groups called for mass protests in the capital Tbilisi, rocked by massive demonstrations this year over several repressive laws passed by Georgian Dream.

Saakashvili, who spearheaded the bloodless Rose Revolution in 2003, said on Facebook that opposition lawmakers should renounce their parliamentary seats.

"Now is the time for mass protests. We must show the world that we are fighting for freedom and that we are a people who will not tolerate injustice," he said.

The result announced by the electoral commission gives Georgian Dream 91 seats in the 150-member parliament -- enough to govern but short of the supermajority it had sought to pass a constitutional ban on all main opposition parties.

"Our victory is impressive," Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said in a statement, accusing the opposition of "undermining the country's constitutional order" by questioning his party's victory.

U.S. Secretary Anthony Blinken, however, blasted the "misuse of public resources, vote buying, and voter intimidation" which he said "contributed to an uneven playing field."

But as the U.S. and EU said they were concerned about how fair the vote was, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban defied the calls and was due to begin a visit to Tbilisi to show his support to Georgian Dream.

- Orban expected -

The EU's bete noire who has retained ties to Moscow despite the Ukraine invasion, Orban is an ally of Georgian Dream and current holder of the EU's rotating presidency.

He congratulated Georgian Dream for an "overwhelming victory" on Saturday, after one exit poll showed the government in the lead and before preliminary results were published.

The Hungarian leader is expected to spend two days in the tiny Caucasus country.

As Orban prepared to go to Tbilisi, other EU leaders condemned the vote -- with some backing the call of the opposition.

"The President of Georgia has announced that the parliamentary elections were falsified. Europe must now stand with the Georgian people," Poland's foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on X Sunday.

- 'Constitutional coup' -

Opposition parties lined up to denounce the vote.

"This is an attempt to steal Georgia's future," said Tina Bokuchava, leader of Saakashvili's United National Movement (UNM).

Nika Gvaramia, leader of the liberal Akhali party, called the way the vote was held "a constitutional coup" by the government.

Georgia was rocked in May by huge demonstrations against a law on "foreign influence", that critics said mirrored Russian legislation used to silence Kremlin critics.

The US imposed sanctions on Georgian officials following the protests.

Georgian Dream's oligarch founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili, is highly critical of the West.

He has described the West as a "global war party" that seeks to drag Georgia into the Russia-Ukraine war.