Georgia’s pro-Western president says she will remain in office until new elections are held to replace the country’s “illegitimate” anti-West parliament, which withdrew from talks to join the European Union, sparking mass protests.
President Salome Zourabichvili, who was set to be replaced by the opposing parliament Dec. 14, said she is following the will of the people by staying to oversee new elections — after four consecutive days of protests following allegations that last month’s parliamentary elections were fixed and the ruling body then dashing hopes for Georgia to join the EU.
The president’s move will likely set up a new political showdown between her and the Moscow-aligned parliament.
“What we’re seeing today is really the civil society taking over because the state is falling apart,” Zourabichvili told the BBC over the weekend.
“I’m offering this stability for the transition, because what these people on the streets are demanding is a call for new elections in order to restore this country and its European path,” she added.
Thousands of demonstrators in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and other cities across the country continued to march Sunday, clashing with police and throwing fireworks in demonstrations aimed against the pro-Russian parliament.
The protests carried on despite violent clashes where crowds were met by riot police firing water cannons and tear gas.
The governing Georgian Dream Party, which has been in power since 2012, has been accused of fixing elections while trying to move away from the EU and align the country with Moscow, which briefly invaded Georgia in 2008.
Zourabichvili accused the ruling party of removing any independent institution in the nation and steering Georgia under its pro-Russian whims.
“I am president because I’ve been elected by the people, and I’m president until the time when it’s inauguration for a president who is legitimately elected by a legitimately elected parliament,” she said of her plan to remain in office.
The European Parliament issued a resolution Thursday slamming the ruling party as responsible for the “worsening democratic crisis” in the nation, echoing allegations that the party engaged in voter intimidation and manipulation in its bid for control over the country.
After the resolution, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze decided to throw out talks of joining the EU “until the end of 2028.”
Kobakhidze accused the pro-Western opposition of planning a coup, and the State Security Service said political parties were attempting to “overthrow the government by force.”
The prime minister claimed 50 officers were injured in the protests by people who allegedly “threw Molotov cocktails, pyrotechnics, glass, stones at the police.”
The US has slammed the decision to suspend the process of joining the EU, with the Biden administration saying it “goes against the promise to the Georgian people enshrined in their constitution to pursue full integration into the European Union and NATO.”
American officials said Saturday that the US was suspending its strategic partnership with Georgia over the “anti-democratic actions.”
Georgia’s ambassadors to Bulgaria, Netherlands and Italy have also resigned in protest of their government’s decision.
With Post wires
