Georgia in turmoil: President condemns election as a 'parody'
Salome Zurabishvili, the President of Georgia, sharply criticized the presidential elections planned for Saturday. The elections are to be conducted by an electoral college, and the sole candidate is Mikheil Kavelashvili from the Georgian Dream party, a former soccer player.
2:49 PM EST, December 13, 2024
Dissatisfaction with the formula of the presidential elections awaiting Georgia on Saturday was expressed on Friday by the current president, Salome Zurabishvili. The politician emphasized that the elections will be "an event completely lacking legitimacy, unconstitutional and illegal."
In her opinion, the current situation in the country is the result of irresponsible decisions by the authorities to suspend accession negotiations with the European Union. This has sparked a wave of protests across Georgia. People took to the streets, and law enforcement began brutally suppressing the uprising.
Presidential elections in Georgia. The President speaks of a parody
These protests, as the president noted, include all generations and professions, and their participants demand new parliamentary elections. Zurabishvili believes that without fair elections, there is no chance for peace and political stability in the country.
"Everything is a parody. None of this has anything to do with the political process. It's saddest because the state has become a parody. It is disgusting for all of us." - said the politician during a meeting with the media, as quoted by the Georgian agency Interpressnews.
"This is a kind of provocation; it insults our past, tradition, and culture by treating the institutions of an independent country in this way. It is unacceptable," she emphasized.
On Friday evening in Tbilisi, mass demonstrations took place against the policies of the Georgian Dream. Protesters, including representatives of various professions, expressed their dissatisfaction with the authorities' decisions, chanting slogans and blocking the city's main streets.
The President of Georgia warned the mayor of Tbilisi against organizing a ceremony to light the Christmas tree near the parliament, calling it a "senseless provocation." She suggested moving the event in front of the presidential palace to avoid escalating tensions.
Protests in Georgia have been ongoing since November 28 and are a response to the authorities' decision to suspend talks with the EU until 2028. Demonstrators demand new parliamentary elections and the release of protesters detained by the police. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs data, the number of detainees has exceeded 430 people.
The magazine "Foreign Policy" points to the possibility of upcoming revolutionary changes in Georgia. It presents four scenarios, from compromise to full revolution, while the government's aggressive stance and possible support from Russia put the country's future in question.
