Police disperse rally at parliament again, 28 detained
Police have dispersed a rally on Rustaveli Avenue for the second time this month, following the rejection of an election reform bill on November 14. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
Tweet 
Share
Police have dispersed a rally near the parliament building at 5 a.m. earlier today.
28 individuals have been detained while three others have received injuries, the Georgian Interior Ministry reports.
Law enforcers used water cannons to open the entrances of the legislative body which were blocked by the opposition and demonstrators protesting the rejection of an election reform bill on November 14.
The opposition had plans not to allow the conduct of the parliament plenary session scheduled today.
Demonstrators were warned and given time to leave the territory. However, they refused to do so. The demonstrators violated the law on manifestation through blocking the parliament’s work and the street. Parliament entrances and Rustaveli Avenue are now open,” the Georgian Interior Ministry has reported.
The Health Ministry says that four individuals were hospitalized after the rally dispersal and one of them has already been discharged.
Police take nearby streets at parliament. Photo: IPN.
The ministry has dismissed media reports that one of the four individuals was in thermal shock after being soaked during the dispersal.
The health ministry says that the young man was diagnosed with alcohol intoxication.
As of now the police have taken the parliament territory and nearby streets not to allow demonstrators to enter the area again.
The opposition say that dispersing the rally “is a shame” and “Bidzina Ivanishvili [founder of the ruling party] is distancing himself from the people and the international community very rapidly.”
The opposition vows rallies will continue until the current state leadership accepts the conduct of 2020 parliamentary elections per the German model, by an interim government.
Rallies in Tbilisi were sparked after the bill on the transition to a fully proportional electoral system starting 2020 instead of 2024 was rejected on November 14 as 40 MPs of the ruling party refused to vote for the bill proposed by their own party.
The opposition, which welcomed the change in the summer, is accusing the ruling Georgian Dream party of “cheating the people.”
The ruling party accepted the change last summer, during June protests in the capital city.
Representatives of opposition parties and civic activists have resumed demonstrations in downtown Tbilisi aimed to re-block the parliament of Georgia and prevent legislators enter the building tomorrow.
Law enforcers and emergency brigades are present at parliament in central Tbilisi, as last week the opposition announced “a large-scale rally and the blocking of the work of parliament” on November 25 and 26. The leader of the European Georgia opposition party David Bakradze says that rallies will continue until the current state leadership “takes genuine steps to ease the current tension."
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party proposed bill on holding of 2020 parliamentary elections with a fully proportional voting system and a zero threshold has been scrapped as 101 MPs instead of mandatory 113 voted for it. 141 of total 150 MPs have been registered for the vote earlier today. However, 37 abstained from voting and three voted against.
The Georgian Dream ruling party has announced that they are ready to conduct the 2020 parliamentary elections on the proportional electoral system only, which has been one of the top demands of demonstrators gathered in Tbilisi since June 20.
The BBC, Washington Post and Deutsche Welle have released news on the ongoing Tbilisi protests which were sparked after the rejection of the election reform bill on November 14.BBC has cited campaigners as saying that the current, mixed-electoral system in Georgia favours the ruling Georgian Dream party, which has been in power since 2012.
Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze has urged opposition MPs, who are now protesting the rejection of an election reform bill on the streets, to return to the legislative body and voice their demands in parliament.
The Georgian parliament has approved candidates for top parliamentary posts earlier today after several MPs of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) quit the party due to the rejection of the GD-proposed election reform bill on November 14. GD MP Gia Volski has been approved as the first vice-speaker of parliament, while fellow MPs of the same party Mamuka Mdinaradze and Giorgi Kakhiani as deputy chairs of parliament.
Police have used iron fences to block off the streets near parliament in order to prevent demonstrators from disrupting parliament work. The opposition and civic activists, who have been protesting the rejection of the election reform bill since November 14, had plans not to allow MPs in parliament.
“Even though several irresponsible politicians believe that attacking police, breaking into-parliament or blocking the work of the legislative body is their freedom of expression, we, the state government, fully realise the importance of the democratic development of the country and our response to such actions will be fully in line with the law, full of responsibility to our citizens and reasonable,” Gakharia said.
The opposition and civil activists , who have been protesting for two weeks due to parliament’s rejection of the ruling party’s proposed election bill, have announced a 'large rally' at parliament when MPs will be scheduled to vote on a 20-person list of candidates for judge in the Georgian Supreme Court. The opposition, which strongly disapproves of the list, vows the rally will lead to the fulfilment of the demonstrators’ demands.
The diplomatic corps in Georgia has offered to orchestrate a meeting between the ruling party and the opposition which may take place early tomorrow, former Parliament Speaker, the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party MP Irakli Kobakhidze has stated. The EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell says that “he is happy” the meeting will take place.
Tbilisi City Court has sentenced member of the Shecvale (change) youth movement, Beka Papashvili to five days in administrative detention since he had been arrested at a protest rally near the Tbilisi Parliament building on November 28.
The European Georgia parliamentary opposition party has requested a permission from Tbilisi City Hall to renew protests in the capital around the issue of 2020 parliamentary elections, sparked after parliament rejected an early transition to a fully-proportional electoral system last year.