"Our party will not legitimize the illegitimate Dream parliament - period! I will not revisit this issue a second time," declared Giorgi Gakharia, leader of the For Georgia party and former Prime Minister.
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According to Gakharia, the ruling party, "through fraudulent schemes and by stealing the people's will," has driven the country's future into a dead end to such an extent that his team no longer has any resources left for compromise.
"My party and I will be where our supporters are at the rally planned today," Gakharia said when asked if he would join the demonstration on Rustaveli Avenue.
Giorgi Gakharia stated that his team believes it is most important now to expose the fraud schemes, which were systemic and influenced voters' will.
"Today, we have ample evidence confirming the systematic nature of these electoral schemes and manipulations, including:
Staffing election commissions with individuals connected to the ruling party, their relatives, and affiliates. We have presented several cases to municipal districts showing how these commissions were staffed with interrelated individuals, including Dream representatives and public sector employees with clear conflicts of interest.
Systematic pressure on civil servants and vulnerable social groups. Georgian Dream and Ivanishvili personally, in effect, took civil servants hostage, blackmailing them with their salaries and directly instructing them to not only vote for Dream themselves but also to ensure their family members did the same.
Systematic bribery and cash distribution. In nearly every district, they had mini-headquarters set up in minibosses, openly distributing money to people. There are numerous recordings and examples of this.
Most importantly, the manipulation of IDs, including confiscated ones, used for voting purposes. We have extensive evidence of this severe manipulation scheme, which could not have been executed without the organized coordination of the Security Council, the CEC, and the Ministry of Justice. We will bring this matter to the prosecutor's office within the next few days, either tomorrow or the day after.
This is the primary front line where the main battle is taking place today - for our country's European future and for the survival of elections as a fair institution. We are engaged in this fight 24/7. Of course, the protest action is also essential to consolidate this effort, and we will be where our supporters are, as we always have been and always will be," said Giorgi Gakharia.
