UPDATE ON THE SITUATION – Mikheïl Kavelashvili, loyal to the ruling party, succeeds the outgoing head of state and supporter of the pro-European opposition, Salomé Zourabichvili, a new episode in a political crisis which has lasted for two months.
Thousands of pro-European demonstrators gathered this Sunday, December 29 in Tbilisi in Georgia to denounce the inauguration of the new president, loyal to the ruling party, unlike the outgoing pro-European head of state, a new episode of a political crisis that has lasted for two months.
The crowd gathered at the beginning of the afternoon in front of the Parliament, the center of the demonstrations which have punctuated life in the Georgian capital for weeks. Some of the protesters brandished red cards, noted an AFP journalist, a reference to the footballing past of the new president, Mikheïl Kavelashvili.
Election denounced as rigged
Georgia has been in turmoil since the legislative elections of October 26, won by the Georgian Dream party but denounced as rigged by the pro-Western opposition which is demanding the organization of a new vote.
The new president of Georgia, Mikheil Kavelashvili, loyal to the ruling party, was sworn in this Sunday to succeed the outgoing head of state and supporter of the pro-European opposition, Salomé Zourabichvili, a new episode of a crisis policy which has lasted for two months. This former footballer known for his ultraconservative and anti-Western positions was invested during a short ceremony in Parliament. A few minutes earlier, Ms. Zourabichvili announced that she was leaving the presidential palace but still considered herself the “only legitimate president” of the country, promising to continue fighting against the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Supporters of this former Soviet republic’s rapid accession to the EU have been organizing daily rallies for two months to protest against the government after it decided to postpone European integration efforts until 2028.
Salomé Zourabichvili, a former French diplomat, joined pro-EU demonstrators on Saturday for a human chain which brought together several thousand people on the banks of the river crossing Tbilisi.
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Western sanctions
The Georgian Dream for its part denies any fraud and accuses the opposition of wanting to provoke a revolution, according to it financed from abroad. The outgoing president, for her part, called on the Georgian army this week, saying that it “will remain loyal” and that she “remains his commander in chief”.
During the first ten days of protests in Tbilisi, police dispersed the crowds with water cannons and tear gas. Protesters, for their part, set off fireworks and threw stones and other objects at the police.
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More than 400 people were arrested, including opposition leaders, and dozens of police officers were injured. Georgian Human Rights Commissioner Levan Iosseliani reported «tortures» of detainees by the police. Last week, the United States and the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on several senior Georgian officials over the crackdown on pro-EU protesters. And on Friday, Washington announced that it had taken such measures against billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, considered to be the one pulling the strings of the Georgian Dream.
Beyond the current crisis, the Georgian Dream is accused by its detractors of having abandoned its initial liberal and pro-European program in favor of an authoritarian drift. In power for more than ten years, this party passed this year controversial laws inspired by the Russian legislative code, which target civil society and independent media and restrict the rights of LGBT+.
