Georgian president vows to stay in workplace after pro-Moscow get together’s election win questioned

Salome Zourabichvili was supposed to step down as president of Georgia last month and hand over authority to her successor after losing an October election.

But, when international observers questioned the results that returned the pro-Moscow Georgian Dream party to power, thousands took to the streets in protest and Ms. Zourabichvili vowed to remain in office.

Her opponent, professional soccer player turned Georgian politician Mikheil Kavelashvili, was the only name on the ballot. He was sworn into office on Dec. 29, but Ms. Zourabichvili said she’s not going anywhere.

While many Americans may be hard-pressed to find Georgia on the map, Ms. Zourabichvili on Wednesday told the Hudson Institute think tank that her country — located in the Caucasus region between the Black and the Caspian seas — stood by the U.S. in the past. Georgian soldiers fought alongside U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Georgia has been one of the more secure, strong friends of the United States in the region and beyond the region,” Ms. Zourabichvili said in a video conference.

Georgia has had its “ups and downs” since the end of the Cold War when it emerged from the former Soviet Union’s control. 

However, the country has steadily moved toward the national goal of joining the Euro-Atlantic community, she said.

“It [Georgia] has gone through all these stages of building a democracy, building a state, and building a system in which human rights and human freedoms would be defended,” Ms. Zourabichvili said.

She said the Georgian Dream party has been steadily pushing the country into the Russian orbit. While it has sought NATO membership, Ms. Zourabichvili said Georgian Dream leaders in Tbilisi, the capital, increasingly look to Moscow rather than Washington as their strategic partner of choice.

“They are gradually taking this country in that direction, which is not wanted by the very great majority of the population,” Ms. Zourabichvili said. “What happened with the elections was not a question of competition between two forces or two parties and one accusing the other of stealing the election. It was really an organized stealing of the election that was well planned, well organized, inspired, and supported by the Russians.”

Mass demonstrations have swept through Georgian cities since the parliamentary elections in late October that are widely regarded by observers as fraudulent. 

Tensions increased in November when Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, a Georgian Dream party member who has been sanctioned by the U.S. government, announced that the country would suspend its European Union membership talks until at least 2028.

In November, the Biden administration said the decision goes against promises made to the Georgian people that were enshrined in their constitution to pursue full integration into the EU and NATO.

“Georgian Dream has rejected the opportunity for closer ties with Europe and made Georgia more vulnerable to the Kremlin. The Georgian people overwhelmingly support integration with Europe,” said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.

The anti-democratic actions of the Georgian Dream party violated the core tenets of the U.S.-Georgia Strategic partnership, which was based on shared values and commitments to democracy, including the rule of law and respect for human rights, the State Department said.

“As a result, the United States has suspended this mechanism,” Mr. Miller said. “We reiterate our call to the Georgian government to return to its Euro-Atlantic path, transparently investigate all parliamentary election irregularities, and repeal anti-democratic laws that limit freedoms of assembly and expression.”

Rep. Joe Wilson, South Carolina Republican, introduced the Megobari — Georgian for “friend” — Act in May 2024. It would sanction any Georgian Dream official engaged in corruption or undermining the country’s sovereignty. 

On Thursday, he called former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, who founded Georgian Dream, a puppet of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Chinese Communist Party and Iran’s ruling regime in Tehran.

“He has fought to bring Georgia under the influence of the ‘Axis of Invaders,’” Mr. Wilson said. “He seeks to sell out Georgia and the Georgian people for the benefit of the dictatorship, which is maintained by ‘rule of gun’ instead of democracy.”

Unlike the other claimant to Georgia’s presidency, Ms. Zourabachvili will soon be able to press her case with senior officials in Washington. 

Mr. Wilson invited her to the Trump inauguration on Jan. 20 while Mr. Kavelashvili will have to watch it on television.

“I’m really looking forward to welcoming her to Washington,” Mr. Wilson said.