On December 29, the mandate of President Salome Zurabišvili expires, who supports the popular protests that have been going on for three weeks against the fraud in the elections won by Georgian Dream, which has “frozen” the European integration project. She calls for new elections to be called by then, while Prime Minister Iraklij Kobakhidze threatens to open criminal proceedings against her.
Tbilisi () – On December 29, almost on the eve of the New Year, the outgoing president of Georgia, Salomé Zurabišvili, will end her mandate and is expected to hand over the Orbeliani Palace in Tbilisi to her successor Mikhail Kavelašvili, an elected former footballer by the committee controlled by the Georgian Dream party. Considering his appointment and the results of the parliamentary elections to be illegitimate, Zurabišvili demanded that the government call new elections on that date, declaring this before the protesters who continue to fill the capital’s squares.
In her speech, the president stated that “the protests are entering a new phase,” and that the country’s political crisis can only be resolved by giving the people their say again without tricks or falsifications. Prime Minister Iraklij Kobakhidze threatened Zurabišvili with criminal action against her for abuse of power by announcing new elections and refusing to leave the presidential palace. She added that “no one wants to send the 72-year-old president to jail,” so she trusts her “common sense,” but she herself replied that “she is not afraid of ending up behind bars,” without clarifying what exactly she plans to do if The government does not heed their calls.
The protests against the statements of the representatives of the regime in power to “freeze European integration” have been going on uninterruptedly for more than three weeks. The first days there were repressions by the security forces that dispersed the protesters, with hundreds of arrests and injuries, but later the forceful actions relaxed, the demonstrations became less intense and more numerous, and yet hundreds Even thousands of people gather every day on the central Rustaveli prospekt. The only disruptive action at the time of Zurabišvili’s speech consisted of manipulating the sound system, trying to prevent his words from being heard.
Foreign Minister Maka Bočorišvili also spoke out against the president, stating that “her demand for new elections lacks all legitimacy and foundation”, and that “Salome Zurabišvili is not interested in legal and constitutional foundations when it comes to act against the interests of his own people”. The president responded by inviting her to the Orbeliani Palace along with the patron of the Georgian Dream, the oligarch Bidzina Ivanišvili, and “all those who care about a positive future for Georgia.”
Zurabišvili herself revealed the decision of the European Council to lift the visa regime for Georgians with diplomatic passports, a restriction “that does not affect the rest of Georgian citizens.” The United States also lengthens the list of those sanctioned, including the Georgian Minister of the Interior, Vakhtang Gomelauri, and several representatives of the forces of order, which provokes the protests of the Georgian Dream, which shouts “global conspiracy”, hoping for a relaxation of relations. after the inauguration of Donald Trump’s presidency.
With growing fear of a possible civil war, many are looking to the Georgian Orthodox Church, which acted as a mediator in clashes between the various factions in the early 1990s. Patriarch Ilja II, almost 92 years old, had asked all priests before the elections to “refrain from making statements related to politics”, trying to maintain absolute neutrality, but the positions of several clerics clearly tend towards the ruling regime, especially in the “fight against LGBT ideology” and resistance to European integration. Now the patriarch has called on all parties “to achieve a constructive dialogue, which avoids uncontrollable processes in society”, and congratulating the winners of the elections, he has invited everyone, including the opposition, to “achieve authentic synergy for the good of the country. Some protesters showed provocative banners, asking the patriarch to take to the streets to assert his moral authority against the “prevaricators of the will of the people,” but Ilya II responded that “we must trust in the will of God.”
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