By Felix Light
TBILISI (Reuters) – Lawmakers from Georgia’s ruling party opened the first session of parliament on Monday after last month’s disputed election, defying protesters outside and a boycott by opposition parties who say the vote was illegitimate.
Official results for the Oct. 26 election showed the ruling Georgian Dream party re-elected with almost 54% of the vote, a result that opposition parties have said was fraudulent.
Observers said that the election was marked by violations which could have had an impact on results, though they stopped short of saying the vote was stolen. Western countries have said allegations of voter fraud must be investigated.
A traditionally pro-Western country with European Union candidate status, Georgia has since the outbreak of war in Ukraine moved closer to Russia, from which it gained independence in 1991.
Relations with Western countries have soured this year, with Georgian Dream pushing through laws against “foreign agents” and LGBT rights that the U.S. and EU have described as authoritarian and Russian-inspired.
Opposition parties had vowed to prevent the ruling Georgian Dream party from convening a new parliamentary session, and declared that they would boycott the new parliament.
Protesters gathered on Sunday night and pitched tents outside the Soviet-built parliament building in a bid to block Georgian Dream lawmakers from entering the complex.
But on Monday morning, Georgian Dream MPs entered parliament, and opened the new legislative session, with no opposition lawmakers present.
Protesters outside shouted “Russians” and “slaves” at arriving deputies, and threw eggs at the parliament building.
Among the deputies was Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire ex-prime minister and the ruling party’s founder, who is widely regarded as the country’s most powerful man.
Protester Eka Demetradze told Reuters on Sunday night that she saw the stakes of the protest as existential for Georgia.
She said: “Our country is on the verge of collapsing so we really want to defend it because we really love our country.”
Referring to Ivanishvili, she said: “There is no other way and we will not let the oligarch steal our present and our future as well.”
(Reporting by Felix Light; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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