Ruling party Executive Secretary: “patrons” instructed opposition not to recognise October election results

Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday accused opposition parties of having been “instructed by their foreign patrons” not to recognise the results of October general elections.

In his press comments, the official claimed the four opposition parties that secured seats in the Parliament and are now demanding a rerun for alleged electoral manipulations were “deliberately refusing” to accept the outcome and were “propagating baseless claims” of electoral fraud. 

'If you lose the elections, you should not admit it’ - they were instructed to say in such a style by their bosses. They were deceiving both their bosses and the people, saying the GD’s public approval was 25 percent”, the  MP said, adding “what should they say now? They said that 300,000 to 400,000 votes were rigged in the electronic elections”. 

He further noted “we should not take their claims seriously. It is not funny - people are tense and nervous”. 

Mdinaradze also discussed a recent phone conversation between the French President Emmanuel Macron and Bidzina Ivanishvili, the Honorary Chair of the ruling party, which he claimed had “demoralised the opposition”. 

The official claimed the opposition had not expected such a call, particularly in light of a recent meeting between the United States President-elect Donald Trump and Macron.

Mdinaradze claimed approaches of the GD authorities and the incoming US administration aligned “on key issues”, which he said included the necessity of ending the Russia-Ukraine war, ensuring transparency of foreign funding of the civil sector and “combating LGBTQ+ propaganda”. 

He further said the alleged shared views could ease the current political tension between the two countries following a decision by Joe Biden’s administration to suspend its strategic partnership with Georgia last month, after the latter’s decision to postpone the country’s European Union accession talks until 2028. 

In a final remark, the MP expressed concern over the potential actions of President Salome Zourabichvili ahead of Saturday’s elections, suggesting her “frustration” might lead her to “extreme measures”. 

She is in such agony that she might come out and say, 'I call on you, police officers, soldiers, public servants, to protect the only legitimate president.' She might even do something crazy”, Mdinaradze said. 

The GD has nominated Mikheil Kavelashvili, ts MP and former footballer, for the presidential post, with inauguration scheduled for December 29.