Chaos Erupts at Georgia Election Results Announcement

Georgia's election commission confirmed the victory of the ruling pro-Russian Georgian Dream party in the October 26 parliamentary elections, which has sparked widespread protests and allegations of electoral fraud. The confirmation meeting was disrupted when opposition member David Kirtadze threw black paint on commission chairman Giorgi Kalandarishvili, who suffered an eye injury. Kirtadze and other opposition figures claim that the results, showing Georgian Dream received 53.9% of the vote, do not reflect the true voter sentiment and accuse the party of manipulating the election process. Protests have erupted in Tbilisi, with demonstrators alleging voter intimidation and procedural violations. Despite the turmoil, Georgian Dream asserts its commitment to European integration, although the EU has frozen Georgia's membership application due to concerns over democratic decline. President Salome Zourabichvili condemned the elections as illegitimate, linking them to Russian interference.