Thousands of people are protesting in Georgia after the election commission confirmed the governing party as the winner of last month’s disputed parliamentary polls.
The Caucasus nation’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC) said on Saturday that the Russia-friendly Georgian Dream party won 53.93 percent of the vote, against 37.79 percent garnered by an alliance of pro-Western opposition groups.
The final results give Georgian Dream 89 seats in the 150-member parliament, which the opposition has refused to enter based on allegations of tampered results.
During a confrontational session of the election commission, opposition representative Davit Kirtadze splashed black paint on the CEC chief, Giorgi Kalandarishvili.
He shouted that the commission head has been moving Georgia towards Russia instead of the European Union. The Ministry of Internal Affairs said it has initiated a criminal investigation against Kirtadze.
The ministry also said police detained three antigovernment demonstrators at a protest outside the commission’s headquarters.
There have been a string of …