Nikoloz Samkharadze, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, has rebuffed accusations of election fraud following Georgian Dream's recent victory, attributing the claims to opposition tactics and disinformation spread by foreign media.

“Since Georgian Dream’s persuasive and logical victory in Georgia’s Parliamentary elections this weekend, a concerted campaign has started shaping up. Its purpose is to, once again, discredit the elections, calling them mildly irregular first (when the opposition still hoped to win) and then quickly graduating to ‘stolen’ (when the results started arriving). Blowing out of proportion a handful of cases of irregularities at a few precincts, the crescendo about the ‘rigging’ has been increasing, especially after a chorus of voices from abroad joined the opposition’s usual cacophony.

Well, we have seen this before. After every election, which Georgian Dream won since 2012 (and this was the ninth of them), the opposition cries foul and tries to deny the Government its legitimacy. This was the case in 2020 and, even, in 2016 when Georgian Dream won the outright constitutional majority in the Parliament. Of course, all these unsubstantiated accusations were later revealed to be false and debunked but the artificially concocted ‘perception’ of fraud lingers on.

These false claims are particularly hideous now when the elections were conducted with three additional safeguards against the fraud, as advised by our international partners, particularly the European Union. First, these were the first exclusively proportional elections that were conducted by party lists, not single-mandate constituencies, so as to eliminate undue influence of big money or the Government’s ‘administrative resource’. Second, the elections were held, almost entirely, using the electronic ballot machines to guard off any dangers of rigging at the counting stage. And, third, there was a veritable army of domestic political party representatives and local and international observers that were present at EVERY precinct and could closely observe both voting process as well as vote counting and verification stages.

And, nonetheless, the opposition could not handle the defeat, again. They started blaming their loss on the Government, rather than on their own deficient pre-election campaign, as per usual. How can you win elections when your entire effort is dedicated to disparaging the Government through TV channels and social media, without actually meeting the people or offering an alternative substantive vision or program to the electorate?

While the opposition’s reaction was predictable, some of the harsh criticism from the West is odd, to say the least. Some of our international partners have, again, fallen to the massive misinformation campaign from the opposition and their controlled media, which, ironically, campaigned to their international patrons more than to their own constituencies. As a result of this intentional campaign, some in the West formed opinions for themselves that are completely contrary to what the majority of Georgians believe.

However, there are also foreigners who forcefully participated in the Georgian election campaign. They bolstered and even directed some of the opposition’s efforts. Therefore, the opposition’s defeat is these foreigners’ defeat too, which explains their embittered reaction to the outcome of Georgian elections.

We should remember that it is the population, not foreigners, who vote.

Below are the internationally held myths that make no sense to Georgians, which explains why there is such a mismatch between foreigners’ perceptions and Georgians’ choices. The outcome of the vote was determined by the Georgians, however.

First, that Georgian Dream is in fact a Russian Dream. While, indeed, Georgian Government exercises the long standing, Western-advised, and responsible policy of strategic patience towards Russia, there has been no evidence of either any compromises on Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and no trace of Moscow’ influence over Georgian Government’s decisions or policies. Meanwhile, people do prefer the resultant peace from this policy over the potential war. Also, the restoration of trade links with Russia benefitted large swaths of the Georgian population economically, which further contributed to Georgian Dream’s victory.

Second, the Georgian Dream is anti-European. This is a particularly nasty accusation because it was the Georgian Dream that took the country from being the outsider to the EU’s policy to signing the Association and Free Trade Agreements with the EU and winning the visa-free travel, and, then, receiving the EU candidate country status. Two major decisions by Georgian Dream underpinned this success: First was the Constitutional clause that made European and Euro-Atlantic integration the country’s priority and the second was to formally apply to EU membership as promised by GD’s 2020 electoral program.

Third, that GD is undemocratic. Contrary to what the opposition’s and their foreign supporters’ propaganda says, Georgians see and enjoy firsthand the big benefits of the true democratic transformation since 2012. The Government-ensured real guarantees on free media, free assembly, protection of human rights, and the ability to conduct business freely are the real facts of life for all citizens, and the vast majority of Georgians appreciates these democratic achievements. These achievements contrast sharply with the former government’s (and current opposition’s) dismal authoritarian policy between 2004 and 2012.

Fourth, that Georgia is stagnating economically. To the contrary, in the last 12 years, Georgian Dream tripled the GDP and national budget, halved the unemployment, expanded business opportunities, and rigorously protected the property rights. Very importantly, poverty has been reduced dramatically, which helped to deliver hundreds of thousands of Georgians out of decades-long hardship. Economic growth occurred against the background of increasing social safety guarantees in healthcare, social welfare, and pensions.

Fifth, GD has lost its touch with the people. Nothing can be farther from the truth, as our party representatives have a very strong presence in every part of Georgia, our electoral delegates deal with local problems firsthand, and, importantly, we have conducted the most vibrant and energetic campaign for these elections, meeting citizens personally in the entire country. Nothing replaces the personal touch and this is what the opposition was lacking throughout, which they can only blame on themselves. The fact that GD turned Georgia’s historic national values – homeland, mother tongue, and the faith – into the cornerstones of governance and electoral campaign made us ever more popular among the public. Identity politics matters, and the opposition is, actually, the side that lost touch with the people’s true aspirations.

These are the facts that are being missed by our critics in the West. Political polarization and disinformation have become the double-headed nemesis of democracy worldwide. Georgia suffers from both, thanks to the opposition’s intransigence and chicanery. It is not surprising, therefore, that some in the West have fallen to disinformation about Georgia, thus missing completely what Georgians believe. Luckily, our priority is our people, not foreigners, and we have been rewarded with votes for what we believe and do.” Samkharadze said.