BBC, Washington Post, Deutsche Welle write on Tbilisi protests
28 individuals have been detained while three others received injuries during the rally dispersal in central Tbilisi earlier today. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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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.
Protesters blocked several entrances to parliament, in order to stop politicians being able to enter for a session on Tuesday,” the BBC writes.
Deutsche Welle says that riot police have used water cannons to scatter dozens of protesters gathered near Georgia's parliament early on Tuesday, as they tried to blockade parts of the building and prevent lawmakers from entering later in the day.
Police used water cannons to disperse rally at 5 a.m. earlier today. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
The Washington Post reads that thousands of people are demonstrating in front of parliament in the country of Georgia, demanding that the government step down and early elections be held.
Daniel Balson, Europe and Central Asia Advocacy Director at Amnesty International has tweeted that the US is “closely following” events in Tbilisi.
As police move to break up protests in Georgia, @amnesty has been clear: security forces must respect the rights of demonstrators to peacefully assemble and express dissent. https://t.co/UKfvjIdDCj
— Daniel Balson (@EurasiaView) November 26, 2019
Police have dispersed a rally on central Rustaveli Avenue for the second time starting the rejection of the bill on November 14 which offered the transition to a fully proportional electoral system starting 2020 instead of 2024.
- The bill was proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream party as they accepted the change in the state constitution during June protests in Tbilisi.
- The bill was rejected as 40 ruling party MPs refused to vote for the bill.
- Rallies were dispersed with the use of water cannons on November 18 and earlier today.
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.
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.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party has nominated candidates for parliamentary posts after 12 of its MPs left the party in the wake of the rejection of the GD-proposed election bill on November 14.
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."
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.
“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.
Several opposition MPs from the European Georgia party have submitted statements regarding their exit from parliamentary committees amid protests in Tbilisi sparked by the rejection of the election bill on November 14.