(CLO) On Sunday, the opposition-initiated protests continued and spread in Georgia for the fourth consecutive night, with signs of increasing seriousness.
Protesters gathered again in the capital Tbilisi on Sunday night on Rustaveli Avenue in the city center, throwing fireworks at police, who responded with tear gas and water cannon.
After midnight, after hours of standoffs, police began moving protesters away from the parliament building and began building barricades using whatever materials they could find.
Protesters fire fireworks at police. Photo: Reuters
Four opposition groups have called on protesters to demand paid leave to participate in the protests and for employers to provide time off.
Georgia’s pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili has called for pressure on the Constitutional Court to annul last month’s election, which was won by the Georgian Dream party. Both the opposition and Ms Zourabichvili say the vote was “rigged”.
Outside the capital, Georgia's Interpress news agency said protesters blocked a road leading to the country's main commercial port in the Black Sea city of Poti.
Georgian media reported protests in at least eight cities and towns. The opposition Formula television channel showed people in Khashuri, a town of 20,000 people in central Georgia, throwing eggs at the Georgian Dream party office in the region.
The EU and the US are concerned about the Georgian government's policy of distancing itself from Western interference. The Georgian Dream party says it is acting to protect the country's sovereignty against outside interference.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia's Security Council, said a "revolution" was underway, writing on Telegram that Georgia was "moving rapidly along the path of Ukraine, into a dark abyss. Usually things like this end badly." Russia has long accused the West of fomenting revolutions in post-Soviet countries.
Protesters carry Georgian and European Union flags. Photo: Reuters
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has rejected US criticism of the use of “excessive force” against protesters. He also brushed aside the US announcement on Saturday that it would suspend its strategic partnership with Georgia. He said it was a “temporary event” and that Georgia would negotiate with the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump when he takes office in January.
Meanwhile, President Zourabichvili said on Saturday that she would not step down when her term ends this month, saying the new parliament was illegitimate and had no authority to appoint her successor.
Prime Minister Kobakhidze said he understood Zourabichvili's "emotional state". "But of course on December 29 she will have to leave her residence and hand over this building to a legitimately elected president," he said.
Georgia's Foreign Ministry said foreign countries were trying to "interfere in the functioning of the institutions of a sovereign state" and such actions were unacceptable.
In June, Georgia enacted a law requiring NGOs to register as “foreign agents” if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.
Georgia's government says it is defending its sovereignty and trying to prevent the country from suffering the same fate as Ukraine, which saw similar events during the Maidan Revolution in 2014 when the then government also decided to halt plans to join the European Union and was overthrown by protesters, leading to instability and then the current war with Russia.
Hoang Anh (according to Reuters, TASS)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/demonstrations-in-georgia-continue-to-spread-and-become-hugely-widespread-post323750.html
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