Zourabichvili reiterates call for new elections on 90th day of protest

Self-declared interim President Salome Zourabichvili addressed a gathering of thousands of demonstrators on Tuesday, reiterating her call for new elections. She also noted that in addition to marking the 90th day of continuous protests, Tuesday’s demonstration represented an additional significance as it came on the 104th anniversary of the Red Army’s conquest of Georgia in 1921.

‘We are standing here […] so that 1921 does not repeat itself’, Zourabichvili said.

‘We should not let the Russian occupation happen’, she added, drawing a parallel between the 70 years that Georgia was part of the Soviet Union and the current political shift toward Russia under the ruling Georgian Dream party.

She emphasised that though the Georgian Dream-led government had used a variety of tactics — from police brutality to repressive legislation and substantial fines — ‘everyone is still standing’.

Zourabichvili also criticised the government for failing to employ state institutions to address the recent natural disaster in western Georgia caused by heavy snowfall, noting that ‘when people need to be helped and protected, they [the government] are not there, because this is not a government, but a regime’.

Regarding a plan of action for the future, Zourabichvili reiterated that the only peaceful solution to Georgia’s political crisis is through new elections.

She promised to present a document in the coming days outlining the procedure for new elections, while also noting that another important task would be to prepare a ‘whole army of observers’ as well as new Central Election Commission (CEC) members.

‘All of us together should overcome this fraud, prevail over it’, Zourabichvili said, noting that it would be important to ‘mobilise all possible help from our partners’ to prevent election rigging.

General strikes, city-wide marches

To mark both the 90th day of continued anti-government protests, as well as the 104th anniversary of the Red Army’s conquest of Georgia, a general strike took place at 16:00 in Tbilisi.

In addition, seven marches, each named after figures who fought for Georgia’s independence, converged at Heroes Square in Tbilisi where they held a minute of silence in remembrance of the lives lost in the fight against Soviet troops in 1921.

The demonstrators then took an oath, written by Georgian novelist Lasha Bughadze, vowing to stay together and fight for the freedom of Georgia ‘until the end’.

After blocking Heroes Square, the protesters marched to Rustaveli Avenue to demonstrate in front of the Georgian Parliament, again blocking the central thoroughfare.

Besides the capital Tbilisi, demonstrations were held in Gori, Akhaltsikhe, Batumi, Zugdidi, Telavi, Kutaisi, and Chkhorotsku.

Study: Majority of Georgians blame Georgian Dream for crisis, show loyalty to protests

The study addressed, among other issues, the ongoing protests, the 26 October elections, and Georgia’s EU U-turn.

OC MediaMikheil Gvadzabia