The Central Election Commission of Georgia has issued a statement calling on former President Salome Zourabichvili, as well as all interested parties, to present relevant, substantial evidence or refrain from spreading unfounded statements that mislead the public.

“Georgia’s fifth President, Salome Zourabichvili, continues her attempts to discredit the election administration. She made unfounded and unsubstantiated statements regarding the October 26 elections during her appearance at the UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee meeting. Salome Zourabichvili, traditionally without essential evidence and arguments, continues to make accusations about ‘election fraud’ and ‘Russian methods.’

In reality, it is well known to all objective interested parties that there were no violations in the October 26 parliamentary elections that could have had a substantial impact on the results.

We would like to remind the public that after the announcement of the parliamentary election results, following statements about ‘alleged fraud,’ the election administration took its own initiative to appeal to the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia and requested an investigation to objectively assess the circulated claims. Through the interim statement from the prosecutor’s office, which was based on numerous investigative experiments and testimonies, the public learned that no one, including Salome Zourabichvili, has presented any specific evidence for the advertised accusations.

The CEC conducted the administration of the October 26 elections at a high professional level and in full compliance with legislation, which is, at minimum, confirmed by the assessment of the OSCE/ODIHR observation mission.

Such unfounded statements are likely directed towards damaging the electoral environment and the integrity of the process with specific political goals, promoting incorrect perceptions to discredit democratic institutions and sow skepticism regarding the results of any election where the outcome is not favorable to the authors of the accusations.

Once again, we call on Salome Zourabichvili, as well as all interested parties, to present relevant, substantial evidence, or refrain from spreading unfounded statements that mislead the public,” the CEC statement notes.