Georgian police on Saturday fired tear gas and water cannons at anti-government protesters who tried to enter the presidential palace, as tens of thousands rallied during local elections after the opposition urged a “last chance” protest to save democracy.
The ruling, populist Georgian Dream party faced its first electoral test since a disputed parliamentary poll a year ago plunged the Black Sea nation into turmoil and prompted Brussels to effectively freeze the EU-candidate country’s accession process.
After polls closed at 4pm, the party claimed in a Facebook post it had “won elections in all municipalities without exception.”
Photo: AFP
Ahead of the demonstration, authorities pledged a tough response to those it cast as seeking “revolution.”
Waving Georgian and EU flags, tens of thousands flooded Tbilisi’s Freedom Square for what organizers dubbed a “national assembly.” The normally low-key local elections have acquired high stakes after months of raids on independent media, restrictions on civil society and the jailing of dozens of opponents and activists.
Opera star-turned-activist Paata Burchuladze attended the Freedom Square demonstration to read out — to loud applause — a declaration claiming “power returns to the people,” branding the Georgian government “illegitimate” and announcing a transition.
Demonstrators then marched toward the presidential palace and tried to enter the compound, prompting law enforcement to fire tear gas and water cannons. Protesters erected barricades and set them on fire.
The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs said the rally “exceeded the norms set by the law.”
“Anyone who cares about Georgia’s fate should be out here today,” 77-year-old protester Natela Gvakharia said. “We are here to protect our democracy, which Georgian Dream is destroying.”
Imprisoned reformist former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili had urged supporters to protest on election day for what he called the “last chance” to save Georgian democracy.
“There are moments when action is needed here and now,” he wrote on Facebook on Thursday. “Freedom — now or never!”
Without action, “many more people will be arrested and the rest driven out,” he said. “Total hopelessness will take hold and the West will finally give up on us.”
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said plans for a “revolution” are doomed to fail, accusing organizers of “radicalism” and threatening “many may find themselves behind bars.”
Rights groups say about 60 people — among them key opposition figures, journalists and activists — have been jailed over the past year.
Amnesty International said the elections were “taking place amid severe political reprisals against opposition figures and civil society.”
Georgian Dream has been in power since 2012.
It is controlled by billionaire former Georgian prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Georgian Dream initially presented itself as a liberal alternative to Saakashvili’s reformist camp.
However, since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, critics say it has tilted toward Moscow, pursuing far-right policies and adopting Kremlin-style measures targeting independent media and non-governmental organizations.
Georgian Dream says it is safeguarding “stability” in the country of 4 million while a Western “deep state” seeks to drag Georgia into the war in Ukraine with the help of opposition parties.
Analysts say its blunt pitch — claiming that the opposition wants war, but it wants peace — resonates in rural areas and is amplified by disinformation.
A recent survey by the Institute of Social Studies and Analysis put the party’s approval rating at about 36 percent, against 54 percent for opposition groups.
The EU has sanctioned several Georgian Dream party officials over previous crackdowns on protestors.
It said it could suspend Georgians’ right to visa-free travel to the EU unless the government protects fundamental rights.
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