The future on the blade. Why does Georgia fall into authority?

President Salome Zurabishvili will not quit on the Georgian Dream denomination.
Source: Wikimedia Commons. licence – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Aike 4.0 International. Author – Giorgi Abdaladze

Protests across the country. An illegal parliament. Discontent of the European Union. A fierce president who runs out of time. A relentless Prime Minister and aggressive services. 1 controversial decision that has shed the spell of bitterness. All of this sums up fresh events, shocking a tiny Caucasian republic. Why is Georgia coming off the European path? Will the present bastion of pro-Western attitudes in the Caucasus slide into Moscow?

There is simply a second wave of mass protests in Georgia. The Georgians face tens of thousands of streets, opposing their country's departure from integration into the European Union. Not only opposition supporters protest, but besides Georgian Dream voters who feel cheated by their party. In the background of these protests, there is simply a constitutional crisis. There is simply a recently elected parliament, although most opposition parties consider it illegal. The President, whose word of office ends on 16 December, declares that she is the only independent, legal institution remaining in the state. In turn, the Prime Minister announces that he will not engage with the opposition, and his subordinate services pacify the demonstrators, utilizing water cannons and gas.

Authentic return

Since spring, there have been mass protests in Georgia that have begun in connection with the so-called. The abroad Agents Act, which has been modeled on the law for many years in force in Russia. The largest protests in Tbilisi brought together as many as 100,000 people who opposed Georgia's decision distant from the European Union. Parliamentary elections took place in this restless atmosphere on 26 October. They were won by Georgian Dream's ruling organization since 2012. The opposition and president Salome Zurabishvili did not recognise the result of the election. According to PAP, Zurabiszvili pointed out: “We saw that Russian propaganda was straight used”, and opposition MPs reported that they waived their mandates. According to the Georgian constitution, the President's office should inaugurate the proceedings of the fresh parliament. On 25 November, the parliament met at its first inaugural meeting. Only Georgian Dream representatives appeared on it, which, however, are not adequate according to the Constitution of Georgia to let Parliament to function legally.

The European Parliament so adopted a resolution on 28 November. It states, among others, that Georgian "parliamentary elections were not in line with global standards for democratic elections". The EP besides called on the EU and its associate States to impose individual sanctions on Georgian officials and political leaders liable for the regression of democracy, while stressing their support for the aspirations of the European Georgian people. The Prime Minister of Georgia, Iraq Kobachiga of the Georgian Dream Party, replied decisively to the resolution. He stated that Georgia would suspend EU membership talks by 2028 and quit budget grants from the community. In his opinion, the EU accession talks are utilized as a "national blackmail instrument".

Georgian opposition

Since 28 November, Georgian streets have been flooded with protesters. These are massively opposed to moving distant from the EU and are defending European integration. Protests are brutally pacified. People are being chased around the streets, and the servants are besides moving after them into buildings where they are trying to defend themselves. erstwhile protesters are in 1 place, they are separated by cordon, and gas and cannon water are coming towards them. any protesters usage gas masks and helmets. On TikTok and another social media, you can see hundreds of recordings of protesters wrapped in Georgia and the EU flags during the fighting. At 1 of the protests in the crowd, other the armed police, 1 can besides see a president confronting the officers of the service asking them whether they are "servant to Russia or Georgia". On the first day of the protests more than 40 people were arrested, another over 100, and reports of beaten demonstrators and journalists were besides reported.

Since April thousands of Georgians have been protesting against increasingly authoritarian, anti-European power. Source: Wikimedia Commons. licence – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic. Author – Jelger Groeneveld

Georgians protest, not just going to the streets. Public officials resign by signing protest letters, officials of ministries and courts compose open letters, the work of schools and universities is suspended. The banks openly criticize the rulers, and the telecommunications companies and cultural institutions express their opposition. The opposition urges employers to grant their employees leave so that they can participate in protests.

Once the word of office of Salome Zurabishvili is over, there will be even more chaos. The president has already declared that she will not leave office in the current situation. Georgian Dreams, in turn, announced with the mouths of Bidzina Ivanishwili (the richest man in the country) that their presidential candidate was Micheil Kawelashvili – a nationalist and erstwhile footballer. Social discontent is improbable to affect the result of the election. The upcoming presidential elections will be the first in which the Georgian president will not be elected in a general vote, and by an electorate college whose legality will most likely be questioned. All of this can lead to a situation where Georgia has 2 leaders who do not recognise each other.

It is presently unclear how the situation in Georgia can continue. possibly the Georgian Dream government can pacify society. Protests may turn out to be large adequate in the following days to shake the loyalty of police and troops to the government. The question of possible Russian military intervention remains open. We know 1 thing – Georgia will not have dreams for long.

Marianna CZMOCHOWSKA