TBILISI: Georgia’s political crisis deepened on Friday, as new pro-Europe protests gripped Tbilisi ahead of the controversial nomination of a far-right government loyalist as president.

The Black Sea nation has been in turmoil since the governing Georgian Dream party claimed victory in contested October parliamentary elections. Its decision last month to delay EU accession talks ignited a fresh wave of mass rallies.

On Saturday, an electoral college controlled by Georgian Dream is expected to elect Kavelashvili as president in an indirect vote in parliament boycotted by the opposition.

President Zurabishvili has refused to step down and is demanding new parliamentary elections, paving the way for a constitutional showdown.

“What will happen in parliament tomorrow is a parody — it will be an event entirely devoid of legitimacy, unconstitutional and illegitimate,” Zurabishvili told a press conference.

On Friday, demonstrations rocked the capital, Tbilisi, for the 16th consecutive day, as thousands of pro-EU protesters filled the streets, marching in a dozen different locations before gathering in the evening outside parliament. Speaking at a rally, Dariko Gogol, 53, said Georgian Dream “rigged the election, and they are just dragging us towards Russia”.

“We need new elections,” she said, adding that current President Salome Zurabishvili “has to stay (as president) and somehow guide us in this really difficult situation”.

Opposition groups accuse Georgian Dream of rigging the parliamentary vote, democratic backsliding and moving Tbilisi closer to Russia — all at the expensive of the Caucasus nation’s constitutionally mandated bid to join the European Union.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2024