Two NGOs support opposition's demands to recount votes at Tbilisi elections

The NGOs "Georgian Young Lawyers' Association" (GYLA) and "International Transparency-Georgia", and the "Droa" and "Lelo" Parties have demanded to recount the votes at the elections held in Tbilisi. The falsifications at these elections were designed to prevent the opposition from forming a majority in the Sakrebulo, Elene Khoshtariya, the "Droa" leader, has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Ms Khoshtariya had claimed that 40% of the ballots in Tbilisi were falsified, which led to the ruling party's dominance in the city assembly (Sakrebulo).

The NGO GYLA monitored the elections and filed over 350 complaints about violations of the voting procedure and during the vote tabulation.

The NGO "Transparency International-Georgia" has drawn attention to the imbalance in 12 final protocols and asked to annul them or recount the ballots.

The leader of the "Droa" Party has noted that election commissions used to underestimate the number of votes received by the opposition at the elections and overestimate the number of votes cast in favour of the ruling "Georgian Dream-Democratic Movement" Party.

When votes are recounted in the capital of Georgia, "the election picture will change radically," since the opposition will enter the second round of elections in the status of the majority in the Sakrebulo, Elene Khoshtariya explained on air of the "Mtavari Arkhi" TV Company.

The oppositional "Lelo" Party has also supported the demand to recount votes in Tbilisi.