The newly elected parliament of Georgia opened its first meeting with a boycott of the opposition

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia’s newly elected parliament opened its first meeting Monday as opposition lawmakers and the country’s ceremonial president stood aside and thousands of protesters rallied outside, accusing the ruling party of rigging the vote under Russian influence.

Elections October 26 which kept the Georgian Dream party in power was widely seen as a referendum on the country’s aspirations to join the European Union.

Opposition parties refused to participate in parliamentary events on Monday, and only 88 Georgian Dream members were present when the 150-seat parliament held its first meeting.

Nika Melia, leader of the Coalition for Change, promised that the opposition “will do everything to defeat the so-called government, the self-proclaimed government.”

“This is a fight between people fighting for freedom against people who are trying to strengthen a deeply authoritarian regime,” he said.

President Salome Zurabishvili, who rejected the official results and refused to recognize the legitimacy of parliament, did not attend the opening session.

Zurabishvili, who holds a largely ceremonial position, said at X that parliament is unconstitutional due to evidence of election fraud and her refusal to open the session as required by the constitution. Zurabishvili filed a lawsuit in the Constitutional Court, arguing that two fundamental principles guaranteed by the constitution were violated – the secrecy of voting and its universality.

Several thousand protesters gathered outside parliament in pouring rain, facing phalanxes of riot police.

“The government stole our elections,” said student Vakho Sebiskveradze. “This is not just about elections – this is about stealing the European future from the Georgian people, the Georgian nation and Georgian youth.”

The Central Election Commission said Georgian Dream won about 54% of the vote in October. Its leaders rejected opposition accusations of fraud.

European election observers said the election took place in a “divisive” atmosphere marked by incidents of bribery, double voting and physical violence.

Critics have accused Georgian Dream, founded by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia, of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted toward Moscow. Party recently pushed through laws similar to those the Kremlin uses to suppress freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.

The EU suspended Georgia’s membership application process indefinitely in June after the country’s parliament passed a law requiring organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power”, similar to the Russian law , which was used to discredit organizations critical of the government.