The Strong Georgia political opposition party has become the third political force in Georgia to announce a boycott of parliament following its loss in the recent parliamentary elections, party leader Anna Dolidze stated on Monday, TASS reports.
"We are certainly not considering any option of participating in this parliament," she told journalists.
Dolidze also mentioned that the ‘Lelo’ political party had united with several opposition figures to form the ‘Strong Georgia’ party, which has similarly declared a boycott after the parliamentary elections in 2020.
"This is why we have no questions on this matter," she added.
Georgia held its parliamentary elections on Saturday, with 18 parties involved, including the ruling Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia party, which has been in power for 12 years. According to the latest data from the Central Election Commission, the ruling party secured 52.98% of the vote with 97.48% of ballots counted, allowing it to form a government independently.
In addition, the Coalition for Change (11.2%), the Unity - National Movement (9.83%), the Strong Georgia coalition (9.02%), and the Gakharia For Georgia party (8.22%) have also entered parliament, while other parties failed to surpass the five-percent election threshold.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili stated that the election outcome signifies "subduing Georgia to Russia" and has called for protests.
Earlier in the day, Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili announced that the Georgian Dream has received 89 out of 150 parliamentary seats following its victory in the recent elections.
Papuashvili emphasized that "the opposition is falsely claiming it will refuse to accept its electoral lists and that the parliament will supposedly be illegitimate. The parliament will be legitimate."
