The Coalition for Changes, the United National Movement, Strong Georgia, and the Gakharia for Georgia have jointly addressed a letter to Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, as well as the Foreign Ministers of EU member states.

“Given the upcoming EU Foreign Affairs Council discussion regarding the parliamentary elections in Georgia, we would like to share the position of the pro-European opposition parties regarding the political situation in the country. Based on preliminary results and independent analysis, these 4 parties collectively received 52%, if the elections had been free and fair.

Euro-Atlantic integration is a unifying vision for Georgia, representing our shared aspiration to return our country to Europe-whole and free.

However, the October 26 elections have created an insurmountable obstacle for our European future, directly contradicting the Copenhagen criteria for EU membership and the fundamental principles outlined in Georgia’s candidate status requirements.

The scale of the electoral fraud and manipulation has been unprecedented. Independent exit polls conducted by Edison Research and Harris X, credible reports from International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy and Transparency International Georgia, and statistical analyses reveal severe electoral interference:

– Over 120,000 cases of compromised ballot secrecy documented by international observers
– 15,000+ reported cases of fraudulent identification practices
– Approximately 50,000 instances of potential identity theft identified through voter list analysis
– 82% of election commission members were found to have direct ties to the ruling party
– Systematic obstruction of 2,500+ genuine observers across polling stations
– Unauthorized video surveillance in 60% of polling stations, directly violating Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

This election did not merely represent a local power struggle; it mirrored Russian-style tactics - subverting Georgia’s democratic will. These tactics parallel those observed in Belarus (2020) and Russia’s recent elections.

Georgia’s President, Salome Zourabishvili has described it as ‘an attempt of the Russian take-over. She does not recognize the elections as legitimate and refuses to convene the first session of the Parliament as stipulated in the Constitution. This creates an unprecedented constitutional crisis, as Article 38 of Georgia’s Constitution requires presidential convocation of the first parliamentary session. However, the governing party plans to convene the session without her consent and threatened to start a new impeachment procedure against her.

As President Zourabishvili’s term ends in a few weeks, there will be no general elections - the new President of Georgia will be elected by the Parliament and representatives of local councils. This will give the de-facto ruler of the country, Bidzina Ivanishvili whose documented business interests in Russia exceed USD 1 billion - a chance to replace her with his trusted appointee and take over the last independent state institution. Complete control of the governing party over the judiciary system was once again confirmed when the courts struck down all 847 election-related complaints in recent days, with an average deliberation time of just 12 minutes per case.

Pro-European and democratic parties refuse to recognize the legitimacy of those elections and enter the Parliament. Acting Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze has already threatened to declare our parties unconstitutional. Together with the pending full enforcement of the so-called ‘foreign agents! Law - which mirrors Russia’s 2012 legislation and would affect 300+ civil society organizations - we might witness a very rapid deterioration of both Georgia’s political and economic situation.

Georgia faces the gloomy prospect of a severe political and economic crisis. This might lead to further massive emigration from the country which has already lost 250,000 citizens (6.7% of the population) over the last several years, primarily to EU countries.

As Georgia’s future hangs in balance, a decisive action is demanded from the international community, especially the EU. The EU decided to grant Georgia the status of a candidate country for the EU membership. We, as the Georgian opposition welcomed this, believing that our people deserved this chance and it would increase the EU leverage over the governing party. Now we urge the EU to use this leverage to the benefit of the Georgian people.

These fraudulent elections cannot be given the EU stamp of approval. It would render elections in Georgia irrelevant for many years to come. Georgia will be just another electoral autocracy where elections cannot change the existing political status quo.

There are several immediate steps, which the EU can take to pressure the government run by the Russian-made oligarch, Bidzina Ivanishvili, if the government refuses to secure independent investigation of these elections:

1. Initiating the EU-led assessment/fact-finding mission to assess the external and internal interference in the 2024 elections within the next 30 days. Initiating a comprehensive international assessment of the 2024 elections through an EU Election Follow-up Mission working in coordination with OSCE/ODIHR to:

– Conduct comprehensive electoral fraud investigation
– Evaluate the integrity of electoral institutions

2. Call on the Georgian government not to convene the meeting of the parliament elected on October 26 until the international assessment is conducted. Make clear that this parliament will not have legitimacy if convened while the elections are not recognized as free and fair by the international community. This aligns with Article 38 of Georgia’s Constitution regarding parliamentary legitimacy.

3. Clear declaration that the EU accession process for Georgia is halted due to the government’s conduct of the parliamentary elections.

4, Suspending all formal EU-level communications with the existing government, including:

– Cancelation of the EU-Georgia Association Council meetings
– Suspension of high-level political dialogue
– Freeze of technical cooperation mechanisms until they agree to an internationally led investigation of the process.

5. Suspension of the financial assistance (approximately €120 million annually) for the government until the results of the investigation are known. We propose:

– Rechanneling assistance funds to Georgian NGOs and the independent media
– Establishing direct support mechanisms for civil society organizations
– Creating an emergency fund for independent media outlets facing pressure
– Supporting programs promoting democratic resilience and electoral integrity

Our ultimate demand is unequivocal: new elections in 2025 under an improved electoral environment, with a politically balanced electoral administration and politically neutral state institutions.

However, as the possible immediate reaction from the European Union, as an interim step towards that end, we believe a clear call for international assessment of the elections and suspension of all EU-related inter-governmental interaction would be the sound way to support Georgia’s democratic future. Georgian democratic political parties, civil society, free media, and the Georgian people, all count on your support as our nation strives to save its democracy”, - reads the letter signed by Nika Gvaramia [Coalition for Change], Mamuka Khazaradze [Strong Georgia], Tina Bokuchava [Unity-National Movement], Berdia Sichinava [Gakharia for Georgia].