SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Political uncertainty has gripped the former Soviet Republic of Georgia a week after parliamentary elections. Official results give the ruling government a majority of the vote, but opposition forces contend those numbers are fraudulent. Many believe the election will determine whether Georgia's future lies with Europe or with Russia. NPR's Moscow correspondent Charles Maynes joins us from Tbilisi. Charles, thanks so much for being with us.
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Good morning.
SIMON: Is there evidence to support the claim that the vote was stolen?
MAYNES: Well, you know, as you note, the opposition - and I should add the country's president, Salome Zourabichvili - have called this vote fraudulent. Zourabichvili claims the results were engineered using Russian-style election tricks in favor of the ruling Georgia Dream Party. Now, local election monitoring groups I've spoken to point to a litany of violations, including ghost voting with stolen voter IDs, as well as intimidation and violence. But crucially, the West, and specifically the U.S. and European Union, have called for an investigation into irregularities. But they've stopped short of saying - calling the results a sham.
SIMON: Charles, what's been the response to the ruling Georgia Dream Party, according to official results, perhaps the winner?
MAYNES: Yeah, Georgia Dream acknowledges occasional problems, but they strongly deny any mass voter fraud. They argue that the vast majority of videos circulating on social media, for example, that appear to show violations, were doctored. But Georgia Dream members, like the newly elected MP Levan Kobiashvili, told me that the party remains willing to look into credible allegations of fraud.
LEVAN KOBIASHVILI: We are asking anybody who has any information with evidence, not just throwing words, but showing concrete evidence. We are ready to openly and transparently investigate anything to make it clear that everything was clean.
SIMON: Charles, of course, there were huge protests in Georgia earlier this year over the government's passing of a foreign agent law, essentially a copy of Russian legislation. Critics said it would suppress political dissent. How does Georgia Dream explain their purported success in this election if so many people oppose that party?
MAYNES: Well, Georgia Dream says they won big by focusing on the economy in rural areas in particular. They also deny they're pro-Russian or that the vote was really this East-West dynamic we're talking about. You know, instead, Georgia Dream framed it as a choice between Georgia being dragged into a potential wider war with Russia or peace. And according to Kakachia - he's of the Georgian Institute of Politics - tells me, this was an effective strategy in winning over many Georgians who are still traumatized by Georgia's own short but disastrous war with Russia in 2008. This is when Russian forces routed the Georgian Army and seized 20% of Georgia's territory.
KORNELY KAKACHIA: This quite resonates with the people because they see almost, like, daily basis what is happening in Ukraine. And basically, they know that Georgia is not member of EU, not member of NATO and nobody's going to protect Georgia. People simply - they got afraid.
SIMON: Charles, where might all this be headed?
MAYNES: Well, both sides are digging in as we wait and see where the litigation goes, but a big protest by the opposition has called for Monday. They've also pledged to boycott the parliament until new elections are held. That's something Georgia Dream is certain to resist. Just as many younger Georgians say they'll resist any actions that see the country fall back under Russian influence. But certainly, these results, at least as they stand now, are being celebrated in Moscow, for they do little to help Georgia's EU ambitions or relations with Washington, both of which have been put on hold over this past year.
SIMON: NPR's Charles Maynes in Tbilisi. Thank you so much for being with us, Charles.
MAYNES: Thank you, Scott.
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