Georgia president calls for protests as opposition cries foul over election – POLITICO

TBILISI — Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has called on citizens to take to the streets in protest, saying the country’s ruling party used widespread fraud to win Saturday’s nationwide election.

In a speech alongside opposition leaders on Sunday, she said: “I do not accept this election. It cannot be accepted, accepting it would be accepting Russia into this country, the acceptance of Georgia’s subordination to Russia.” She invited supporters to gather outside the country’s parliament at 7 p.m. on Monday to oppose the result, which she said had been rigged.

“We became witnesses and victims of a Russia special operation,” added Zourabichvili, who has become one of the most prominent critics of the ruling Georgian Dream party. “They stole our right to choice, they carried out a Russian election.”