Suspicion of election fraud: Protest in Georgia turns into a street battle

The pro-European protests in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi continue. Demonstrators and police clashed in front of parliament on Saturday evening. Masked police in riot gear used rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons against protesters who threw fireworks, an AFP news agency reporter observed. Flames could be seen behind a window of the parliament building.

The massive protests in the Caucasus state began on Thursday evening. They are particularly directed against the postponement of the country’s EU accession negotiations until 2028, announced by Prime Minister Iraqi Kobachidze.

In contrast, thousands of people took to the streets on Thursday and Friday evenings. In addition, hundreds of civil servants, primarily from the Foreign and Defense Ministries, as well as judges published joint protest notes. More than a hundred schools and universities also remained closed in protest.

During the protests on Saturday night, 107 people were arrested for “disobedience to lawful police orders and petty hooliganism,” the Georgian Interior Ministry said. Ten police officers suffered injuries.

At a press conference on Saturday, Prime Minister Kobakhidze thanked the Interior Ministry and all police officers who “defended Georgia’s constitutional order and preserved the country’s sovereignty and independence.”

However, Georgian investigative authorities opened an investigation into abuse of authority in the form of violence against demonstrators and media representatives. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) confirmed a “disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force by the police” which constituted a “serious violation of freedom of assembly”.

Acting President Salome Zurabishvili, a declared opponent of Prime Minister Kobachidze, declared her “solidarity” with the “resistance movement” in a televised speech. “We will stick together until Georgia achieves its goals: return to the European path and new elections,” said Zurabishvili.

In an interview with AFP news agency on Saturday, Zurabishvili said she would not leave office until the disputed parliamentary election in October is repeated. “As long as there are no new elections and a parliament that elects a new president according to new rules, my mandate will continue,” said Zurabishvili.

After its victory in the parliamentary elections, which was overshadowed by allegations of fraud, the ruling Georgian Dream party decided with its parliamentary majority to elect a new president on December 14th. Zurabishvili had classified the new parliament as unconstitutional due to allegations of electoral fraud and challenged the election results before the Constitutional Court. According to legal experts, the decisions of the new parliament are invalid until the court rules on Zurabishvili’s application.