Georgian president admits ‘no evidence’ of Russian meddling – Polish leader

Salome Zourabichvili has publicly refused to recognize the result of the vote, accusing Moscow of election interference

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has admitted she has no “clear evidence” of Russian interference in the recent parliamentary elections in the country, Polish President Andrzej Duda has claimed. Zourabichvili made the admission in a call with Duda on Monday evening, the Polish politician told a national radio station on Tuesday.

The pro-Western Zourabichvili has publicly refused to recognize Saturday’s ballot results, which indicated that the country’s ruling Georgian Dream party secured 54% of the vote. The result is expected to give the party at least 90 seats in the 150-member national parliament, allowing it to form the government. In a speech on Sunday, Zourabichvili accused Georgian Dream of election rigging and attempting to “steal” the country’s “European future” by aligning it with Russia. She further claimed that the election was a Russian “special operation” and a form of “hybrid war” against the Georgian people. Pro-Western opposition forces in the country have backed Zourabichvili’s accusations.

According to Duda, Zourabichvili had expected Georgian Dream to win the election, but not by a margin that would allow it to form a government on its own.

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“The president told me [on Monday] that the election result was distorted on many levels, in a very complicated way. She believes that these elections were not so much rigged as their result was distorted,” Duda told the Radio Zet station.

“[Zourabichvili] did not say clearly that [Russian President] Vladimir Putin was meddling in Georgia – because there is no clear evidence of this – but said that the Russian authorities definitely support the party that is currently still the ruling party in Georgia,” the Polish president added. Duda said he personally has “no doubt” of election fraud in Georgia, but that it is important to know on what scale it allegedly occurred. He also suggested that reports from international observers would help shed light on the matter.

Moscow has denied allegations of election meddling, instead accusing the West of “unprecedented interference attempts,” referring to calls from the US and several EU member countries for a probe into alleged violations at the polls.

READ MORE: Georgia to recount votes after opposition rejects election loss

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) previously reported that it observed no systemic voting irregularities during Georgian election, although it did note some instances of vote-buying and pressure on public sector employees. Amid the debate, Georgia’s Central Electoral Commission said it intends to recount ballots at five randomly selected polling stations in each voting district to eliminate any doubts over the results.