Who knows what the truth is

Major victory for Georgia's ruling party - pro-Western opposition did not go home
Posted 12:43 p.m

Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia this weekend and the governing party Georgian Dream has received 54 percent of the votes, according to the electoral authority. The pro-Western opposition does not recognize the election results and accuses the so-called pro-Putin ruling party of having stolen the election.

Among other things, the Reuters news agency reports that Georgian Dream collected 54 percent when 99 percent of the votes were counted.

In the Western world, the Georgian election is described as a "destiny election" and a "test for democracy" due to the fact that the pro-Western and liberal opposition wants to become a member of the EU. At the same time, the governing party Georgian Dream is accused of being "Putin-friendly" and instead approaching Russia, but also of having restricted freedom of expression in the country through the so-called agent law.

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The high-profile law aims to curb foreign influence in Georgia. To the chagrin of those in power in Brussels and Washington - who believe that the new law threatens democracy and freedom of expression. If an association, foundation or media company receives more than 20 percent of its income from abroad, it is obliged to report this to the Georgian tax authorities and register as a "foreign influence actor".

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze claims that the Georgian law mimics the US FARA law, which requires political actors with "foreign principals" to register with the country's Justice Department. He believes that if the United States can have such a law, so can Georgia.

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The election results on Sunday show a landslide victory for the ruling Georgian Dream party. But the pro-Western opposition does not condemn the election results. Tina Bokuchava, leader of the opposition party UNM, claims that it is about election fraud.

- We do not recognize the falsified result in the stolen election, says Bokuchava in a statement.