United National Movement

Georgia's ruling party has won the country's parliamentary elections, the central election commission said on Sunday, after the opposition decried the results as fraudulent.

Brussels had warned that Oct. 26's vote, seen as a crucial test of democracy in the Caucasus country, would determine the EU-candidate's chances of joining the bloc.

The Georgian opposition refuses to accept the results of Saturday’s parliamentary elections, which show a victory for the pro-Russian ruling party Georgian Dream with 70% of the vote counted.

The European Union led condemnation against Georgia on Wednesday after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at thousands of demonstrators protesting against a controversial "foreign influence" bill.

Thousands of opposition supporters rallied Sunday in the Georgian capital Tbilisi as the Black Sea nation's government faces mounting accusations of backsliding on democracy.

Demonstrators gathered outside the Georgian parliament for a rally organised by the country's main opposition force, the United National Movement (UNM), founded by jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili.

Georgia has elected ruling party candidate Salome Zurabishvili as its first woman president, final results showed Thursday, but the opposition claimed fraud, reports AFP. 

With all votes counted, the French-born ex-diplomat had taken 59.52 percent of the vote in Wednesday's second round run-off, the election commission said.

Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia party of PM Bidzina Ivanishvili has won slightly over half of the vote in the elections held Saturday, official data shows.

With votes from more than 60% of precincts counted, the country's electoral officials have said support for the party amounts to 50.16% of the vote.

The Parliamentary elections being held in Georgia today are a test of the stability of the country after the campaign was tarnished by a car explosion and a shooting at one of the candidates, reported Reuters.

Georgia has threatened to revoke pro-Western former president Mikheil Saakashvili's citizenship after he was granted a Ukrainian passport and appointed as governor of the strategic Odessa region.
 
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili said Saakashvili's move, which according to the constitution, could lead to the loss of Georgian citizenship, "insulted our state."  

Georgia is holding local elections on Sunday.

Voters are to elect new municipal councils and the mayors of 12 cities and towns, including the capital of Tbilisi.

Some 24 political entities are taking part in the elections, including 20 parties and 4 blocs, according to local news agencies, as cited by the Bulgarian National Radio.