Georgia president summoned to prove election fraud allegations

State prosecutors in Georgia have summoned President Salome Zurabishvili to present evidence concerning alleged "falsification" of the country's parliamentary election.

The move comes as Georgia on Wednesday initiated an investigation into claims from the pro-Western opposition that the vote was "stolen." Western countries have also criticised "irregularities" in the recently held elections.

"Prosecution Service of Georgia has launched an investigation into the alleged falsification of the parliamentary elections," the statement said.

The Prosecutor's Office further stated that it had summoned President Zourabichvili, a government critic who has repeatedly said the vote count was falsified but has not provided evidence of that, to testify on Thursday. The president who "is believed to possess evidence regarding possible falsification ... has been summoned to the investigative agency for an interview."

Official results gave the ruling Georgian Dream 54 percent of the vote and a clear majority in parliament after Saturday's vote. However, opposition politicians have said they will boycott the chamber in protest at a result they said was illegitimate.

Zourabichvili and other opposition figures had cast the vote as a pivotal moment in Georgian history, where the country was choosing between European Union integration with the opposition or a continuing drift towards Russia under the Georgian Dream.

Election criticism

Georgia has no diplomatic relations with Russia and Georgian Dream, which says it does want the South Caucasus country to one day join the European Union, but also maintains that it does not want the nation to be dragged into another conflict with Moscow which won a short war against it in 2008.

The Prosecutor's Office said is probe was being opened at the request of Georgia's electoral commission, which has said that the vote was free and fair.

Georgian media on Tuesday reported that the electoral commission had called for an investigation into what it called "baseless criticism" of the election.

Election observers, including the 57-nation Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), have said that the vote was marked by incidents of voter intimidation, bribery and ballot stuffing that could have impacted the result, but stopped short of calling it rigged.

The Kremlin has denied interference allegations and accused the West of trying to unduly influence the outcome of the vote.