Opposition announces long-term protests in Georgia

Starting from December 18, the alliance "Strength in Unity" launches protest actions with the demand to hold early parliamentary elections, announces today Grigol Vashadze, one of the opposition leaders, a former Georgian presidential candidate.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 28, Salome Zurabishvili won the second round of presidential election. The opposition declared large-scale violations, including bribing voters at the voting day.

"Starting from tomorrow, we will begin protest actions, and they will be not stopped for a single day. The actions will be peaceful and carried out in compliance with the Constitution," said Grigol Vashadze at a briefing held on December 17 and broadcasted on air by the "Rustavi-2" TV Channel.

The opposition leader has claimed that if the authorities prevent the opposition from holding actions, they will have to "incur responsibility" for that, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Grigol Vashadze has also noted that on December 16, the authorities violated the right to freedom of movement, freedom of speech of assembly and freedom of expression of the people who were going to Telavi to hold a protest rally. "I'd like to respond to the statement that the road to Kvareli was open. The statement was a lie," Grigol Vashadze has noted.

When assessing the clashes with policemen that occurred the day before, the opposition leader has indicated that the authorities had adopted the methods of the Russian authorities. "They mobilized an unprecedented number of the policemen. We urge to hold the parliamentary elections as soon as possible. New election commissions should be formed and elections held under a proportional system," noted Grigol Vashadze, whose statement was translated by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 17, 2018 at 01:13 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.