Georgia president calls government illegitimate, PM says opposition plans coup By Reuters
Written by Felix Light
TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili called the government illegitimate on Saturday and said he would not step down when his term expires next month, defying the prime minister as he accused anti-EU forces of plotting a coup.
The South Caucasus country plunged into crisis on Thursday, when Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s party, Georgian Dream, said it would suspend negotiations for European Union accession for the next four years over what it called Georgia’s “blackmail” by the bloc, suddenly postponing it for a long time – a standing national goal.
EU membership is popular in Georgia, which aims to join the bloc enshrined in its constitution, and the sudden freeze on accession talks has sparked mass protests in the mountainous country of 3.7 million people.
In his speech on Saturday, Zourabichvili, who is an EU critic of the Georgian Dream whose power is largely celebrated, said that the parliament had no right to choose his successor when his term ends in December, and that he would remain in office.
Zourabichvili and other government critics say the October 26 election, in which Georgian Dream won nearly 54% of the vote, was rigged, and that the parliament it elected is illegitimate.
“There is no official parliament, therefore, the unofficial parliament cannot elect a new president. Therefore, no inauguration can be done, and my work continues until a formally elected parliament is formed,” he said.
Earlier, Kobakhidze accused his opponents of stalling EU accession of planning a revolution, in line with Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan protests, which overthrew a pro-Russian president.
“Some people want a repeat of that situation in Georgia. But there will be no Maidan in Georgia,” said Kobakhidze.
The Ministry of the Interior said on Saturday it arrested 107 people in the capital, Tbilisi, in one night when protesters built sites in the middle of Rustaveli Avenue, threw explosives at riot police, who used water cannons and tear gas to disperse them.
Georgia’s domestic intelligence agency, the State Security Service, said “certain political groups” are trying to “overthrow the government by force”.
MANY PROTESTERS ARE GATHERING
Several thousand protesters gathered late Saturday in Tbilisi, building a barricade outside the parliament amid heavy riot police, while local media reported protests in towns and cities across the country.
Hundreds of employees of Georgia’s foreign, defense, justice and education ministries, as well as the central bank, have signed open letters criticizing the decision to suspend EU accession negotiations.
Major businesses, including London-listed banks TBC Bank and Bank of Georgia have expressed their support for EU accession, while top Georgian politicians in Italy and the Netherlands resigned in protest on Saturday, local media reported.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the star of the Georgian soccer team, spoke in favor of the protesters.
“My country is in pain, my people are in pain – it is painful and emotional to watch the videos that are being broadcast, stop violence and violence! Georgia deserves Europe today more than ever!” Kvaratskhelia wrote on Facebook (NASDAQ:) on Saturday.
Standing outside the capital’s parliament building, where the EU and Georgian flags are side by side, protester Tina Kupreishvili said she wants Georgia to honor its constitutional commitment to join the EU.
“The people of Georgia are trying to protect their constitution, they are trying to protect their country and the state, and they are trying to tell our government that the law means everything,” he told Reuters.
The EU accession suspension caps months of deteriorating relations between Georgian Dream, which has faced accusations of authoritarian tendencies and support for Russia, and the West.
The party is led by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire former prime minister who took anti-Western positions in the run-up to the October election.
The ruling party and Georgia’s election commission say the vote was free and fair. Western countries have called for an investigation into the alleged violations.
The EU had already said Georgia’s bid was suspended because of laws against “foreign workers” and LGBTQ+ rights that it described as violent and pro-Russian.
Meanwhile, the Georgian Dream has moved to build ties with neighboring Russia, where Georgia gained independence in 1991.
The two countries have had no diplomatic ties since a brief war over a Moscow-backed rebel region in 2008, but restored direct flights in 2023, when Moscow lifted visa restrictions on Georgians earlier this year.
