6 detained at a rally near National Library in Tbilisi
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Six demonstrators have been detained by police earlier today for hooliganism and disobedience to law enforcers at a rally near the National Library in central Tbilisi.
The demonstrators, who have been protesting the rejection of the election bill since November 14, gathered at the library to express their protest to Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani and other state officials, scheduled to attend an event dedicated to children's rights.
The member of the Labour Party Lasha Chkhartishvili is among the detainees.
Police removed opposition MP Giorgi Kandelaki and the leader of the European Georgia opposition party Gigi Ugulava from the scene earlier today.
Protests were sparked in Tbilisi after the rejection of the ruling Georgian Dream party's proposed election bill on November 14, which offered an early transition to a fully proportional electoral system in 2020 instead of 2024.
40 ruling party MPs refused to vote for the bill, causing its rejection and accusations by the opposition and demonstrators [to the state leadership] of “breaking a promise and cheating people".
The ruling party leaders said that they tried to assure the MPs to vote for the bill, but failed to achieve the goal.
The opposition is now demanding an early parliamentary elections by an interim government, per the German model, which distributes seats in the legislative body based on the votes received in a party-list [proportional] voting.
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.
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.
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.
“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 Georgian Interior Ministry is investigating a clash late yesterday which left five with minor injuries at the central office of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party in Tbilisi. The clash took place between demonstrators protesting the rejection of the GD-proposed election bill on November 14 and supporters of the ruling party. The demonstrators, who accuse the ruling party of “deliberately rejecting” its own bill, say that all five injured were “attacked” by the ruling party supporters.
The EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell says that the Georgian Dream ruling party and the opposition coming to a consensus soon regarding the electoral system for the 2020 parliamentary elections is unrealistic.