Official results following the parliamentary election on October 26 gave the governing Georgian Dream party nearly 54 percent of the vote, but the opposition parties that passed the 5 percent threshold and Georgia's president Salome Zurabishvili have said the result was rigged.

The opposition parties that passed the 5 percent threshold said that they are not going to enter the parliament, they demanded a new election under international supervision and an investigation into the alleged vote rigging.

Independent international and domestic observers have not said that these elections were free and fair.

"As the President said, we call on the Georgian government to transparently investigate all election irregularities. All stakeholders should come together to ascertain the facts regarding the conduct of the election. The Secretary was clear. Georgia’s political leaders should respect the rule of law and address the deficiencies in the electoral process together," a State Department spokesperson told the Accent.

"We continue to consult broadly and actively with stakeholders in Georgia and with European partners, including OSCE’s ODIHR and the EU, to determine the best path forward," the spokesperson added.

The Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office said on October 30 that it had opened an investigation into the alleged rigging of the parliamentary elections on the basis of the address of the Central Election Commission (CEC) under Article 164 (Interference with the work of election or referendum commissions) of the Criminal Code.

It also noted that Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili was summoned for questioning on October 31 on the basis of the CEC’s statement and information disseminated online indicating that she had evidence of fraud.

After being summoned by the Prosecutor’s Office, President Zurabishvili held a press briefing suggesting that she would not comply with the Prosecutor’s summons.