Tens of thousands of Georgians, many of them draped in EU and Georgian flags gathered outside parliament in Tbilisi on Monday night, in response to a call from the pro-Western president to press for the annulment of Saturday's election.

Salome Zourabichivili, who has sided with the opposition, had earlier called for a rally outside parliament, telling the BBC's Steve Rosenberg that this was a "crucial moment".

She appealed to the international community to stand behind her country's population after a disputed election that she says was "totally falsified".

The ruling Georgian Dream party and the election commission are adamant the result, giving the government almost 54% of the vote, was free and fair.

Zourabichvili said Georgia's partners needed to see what was happening, adding that the government's victory was "not the will of the Georgian people" who wanted to keep their European future.

Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has told the BBC that alleged violations ahead and during the vote were confined to "just a couple" of polling stations.

However, the The European Union, Nato and US have all called for a full investigation into a litany of allegations made by monitoring missions of vote fraud before and on the day of Saturday's vote.

Thirteen of the EU's 27 foreign ministers said they stood "at this difficult time at the side of Georgians", adding "violations of electoral integrity are incompatible with the standards expected from a candidate to the European Union".

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Georgians had a "right to see that electoral irregularities were investigated swiftly, transparently and independently." She added that "Georgians, like all Europeans, must be the masters of their own destiny."

It was not entirely clear what the Georgian president and four opposition groups hoped to achieve by bringing Georgians on to the main avenue in front of the parliament on Monday.

But Salome Zourabichvili made clear the protest would be "very peaceful", adding that she did not believe Georgia's authorities wanted confrontation.

Protesters in the crowd on Rustaveli Avenue knew what they wanted.

"The main thing we want here is to get what we deserve - legal elections," said Lasha, 22. "No-one had any idea this would happen. At first we were frustrated, then we realised what happened and now we're angry."

Liza, 20, wanted "another election that isn’t forged" and said she was pleased to hear speakers from the four main opposition parties telling Georgians not to give up.

Another protester, Keta, told the BBC that she felt "cheated and frustrated". "Me and my friends and my family deserve way better than we have right now... We will fight to the end until we get our justice."

The president said it was up to the people and the political parties to decide what happened next.

"Maybe we won't be able to achieve it today or tomorrow," she said. "There are a number of things that can be done. There can be an international review of some of the elements of the election, there can be a call for new elections. In what period of time I don't know."

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