Europe: Georgian Electoral Commission asks for a recount of votes after opposition complaint

Georgia's election commission announced Tuesday that it will recount votes in 14% of polling stations, after the pro-European opposition accused the ruling party of fraud.

Authorities "will conduct recounts of votes from five polling stations randomly chosen in each constituency," the commission said in a statement posted on its website.

The Georgian Dream party, in power since 2012, won 53.92% of the vote, according to the near-final results of the polls.

The opposition coalition, on the other hand, obtained 37.78% of the vote and has rejected its defeat.

The European Union and the United States called on the Georgian government to investigate allegations of election irregularities.

Following calls by the opposition and President Salome Zurabishvili, tens of thousands of Georgians demonstrated peacefully Monday night to denounce the outcome of the legislative elections.

Georgian Dream is accused by its opponents of being too close to Russia, which invaded Georgia in 2008 following an intervention in the conflict in Ossetia, a Georgian region with a majority Russian population.

Zurabishvili denounced "sophisticated" fraud methods, similar, she said, to those used in Russia. Last summer, the president attempted to veto a government law emulating Russian legislation on persecution of political opposition. Unsuccessfully, Parliament eventually passed her Foreign Agents Law, widely criticized for its liberticidal content.

"It is very difficult to accuse a government," but "the methodology is Russian," the pro-European head of state told AFP in an interview.

Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, rejected the "groundless accusations" and denied any interference by his country in the Georgian electoral process.