Salome Zurabishvili, the Georgian president, gave 17 interviews in succession to different European and American media outlets on October 28. Some of these interviews have already aired while others will air within the next few hours. She announced in her speech at a rally organized to protest the allegedly rigged elections in Georgia that the purpose of the interviews was to share the truth about what’s really happening in the country.
Media outlets she spoke to: BBC, CNN International, LCI, DW News, Reuters, Le Point, Liberation, EURACTIV, Sky News, AP News, Rai, AFP, DPA, Swiss Radio, France Info, TVP, Redaktions Netzwerk Deutschland.
The President’s message to the press was mainly about the violations that were identified on October 26 which led her not to recognize the results. She was asked how she could make this decision despite the fact that international observers have yet to declare these elections fraudulent despite all of the violations they’ve seen. The President explained that, “international observers do not condemn the legality” of the elections this close to the election. They are waiting for additional information that local and presidential observers already have. This is why she made her decision.
She described how this was arranged, saying that IDs were confiscated from citizens before the elections and then “have been used seven times, ten times, seventeen times” during the elections. She explained how this was done, saying that IDs had been confiscated from citizens before the election and then “used seven, ten, or seventeen times” during elections. She said: “All of this evidence has been collected and is still being collected. What is now in progress is showing the systematic nature of the violations which have taken place,” she told CNN.
When asked if she directly accused Russia of interfering with the elections, Zurabishvili replied: “No, I am accusing the Russian FSB of the sophisticated fraud and the methods used in these elections.” She said that the GD had copied Russian tactics during the pre-election campaigns, and that the warm congratulatory emails from Russia following the elections proved the Russian involvement.
The President stated that it was important that the Georgians do not accept these elections. As for what she now expects from the European Union, she said that Brussels must be “very clear” in what they are asking the government to accomplish.
She was asked what message the visit of Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban in Georgia sends. She replied that he “has no mandate from the EU”, and his visit is now only as a “friend of the current ruling majorit” to try to psychologically influence Georgians.
The President also spoke on the decision of opposition not to enter Parliament. She was asked if it would be better for them to form a partnership with Georgian Dream. She replied that GD does not need to form a partnership, as it already has a parliamentary majority and can carry out its work independently. She said that they wanted to get the constitutional majorities to impeach and ban the opposition but that was impossible due to the high turnout. She said that if GD had not written in such a large number of votes, they would have entered Parliament as a strong force for opposition, but “they chose dictation, not democracy.”
She said that Georgians often protest to show their will. Salome Zurabishvili, when asked about the goals behind the protests, said that there should be two outcomes: an international investigation, to help find more evidence of rigging and then new elections, to be decided by the political parties and people. She said that if the protests do not succeed, the opposition has already planned to call for new election with the support of European allies who would ensure transparency.
Update your browser…
Read More @ civil.ge