- Cavendish coy on future as Girmay wins in Japan
- Spain braces for more flood deaths, steps up aid
- Japan urges 200,000 people to evacuate due to heavy rain
- Martin closes on MotoGP world title as Bagnaia crashes out
- UK's battered Tory party to reveal new leader
- Gill, Pant fight back for India in third Test against NZ
- UN nature summit agrees on body for Indigenous representation
- Bagnaia clinches pole for Malaysian MotoGP ahead of Martin
- Tatum propels Celtics over Hornets, Lakers hold off Raptors
- War decimates harvest in famine-threatened Sudan
- US-Israeli settlers hope to see a second Trump term
- 'Nobody cares about us': US election doubts in West Bank
- O'Brien bags two Breeders' Cup wins to match Lukas record for a trainer
- Man Utd said 'it was now or never', new manager Amorim says
- Trump, Harris clash over rhetoric as they battle for swing state votes
- Judge tosses New York plastic pollution lawsuit against PepsiCo
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- MLB star pitcher Snell opts out of Giants contract
- With stones and slings, supporters of Bolivia's Morales gird for battle
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- Sacked Ten Hag wishes 'trophies and glory' for Man Utd
- Wasteful Leverkusen held by Stuttgart
- Trump says RFK Jr will have 'big role' in health care if he wins
- Gauff backs WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia despite 'reservations'
- Spain flood deaths top 200, hopes fade for missing
- Famed Indian designer Rohit Bal dies: fashion group
- Fake US election video signals sprawling Russian disinformation ops
- Spencer to end long wait for first England start against New Zealand
- Russian skater Valieva vows to compete again after doping ban
- Erdogan sues opposition chief, Istanbul mayor for slander
- Piastri takes Brazil sprint pole ahead of Norris
- Morales supporters storm Bolivia military barracks, take hostages
- Dodgers celebrate World Series win with long-awaited parade
- Tuipulotu says 'heart and soul' behind rise to Scotland rugby captaincy
- Amber alert as US figure skater leads French Grand Prix
- Black man convicted by all-white jury to be executed in South Carolina
- Last-ditch effort to solve funding deadlock at nature-saving summit
- France international Jegou resumes rugby after rape allegations
- Former Man Utd star Yorke named coach of Trinidad and Tobago
- Botswana's new president sworn in after historic election upset
- Death toll rises to 12 in Serbia train station roof collapse: minister
- US announces $425 mn in new Ukraine security aid
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- South Carolina to execute Black man for shooting store clerk
- New Zealand captain Barrett says Marler has 'loaded gun' with haka jibe
- Kenya reintroduces tax reforms with new deputy president
- Crunch time for bruised Dortmund as Leipzig come to town
Georgia: Ruling party celebrates election victory
Did the Russian terrorist state have its dirty fingers in the pie and did war criminal Vladimir Putin (72) manage to undermine democracy in Georgia with the help of money and corruption?
The ruling Georgian Dream party has become increasingly authoritarian and has passed laws similar to those used by Russia to clamp down on free speech. After one such law was passed earlier this year, Brussels suspended Georgia's EU accession process.
If the victory of ‘Georgian Dream’ is confirmed, it will be a blow to those Georgians who are hoping for closer integration with Europe and see the election as a choice between the West and Russia.
According to the first official results, with 70% of polling stations counted, which represents the majority of votes cast, the ruling party received 53% of the vote, according to the election commission. The results do not include most of the votes cast by Georgians living abroad.
‘The Georgian people have voted for this country's European future and therefore we will not accept these falsified results published by the Central Election Commission,’ said Tina Bokuchava, leader of the opposition United National Movement.
‘We Vote’, a Georgian coalition of election observers, said the results “do not reflect the will of the Georgian people”, pointing to multiple reports of voter intimidation and vote-buying.
‘We will continue to demand the cancellation of the results,’ it said. Post-election polls showed widely divergent projections for the election: Imedi TV, a TV station supporting “Georgian Dream”, showed the ruling party winning with 56 %. Polls from opposition broadcasters after the election showed the opposition parties making big gains.
Ivanishvili, the reclusive billionaire founder of Georgian Dream and former prime minister, claimed victory and praised the Georgian people. ‘It is a rare case in the world for the same party to achieve such success in such a difficult situation – this is a good indicator of the talent of the Georgian people,’ Ivanishvili told cheering supporters.
The question is, should these election results stand, in which direction will Georgia drift, towards Europe or towards the terrorist state of Russia and its authoritarian dictator and mass murderer Vladimir Putin?