Opposition motorcade urges public to attend Sunday’s rally
Opposition parties have plans to hold a large-rally in Tbilisi on November 8. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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An opposition motorcade in Tbilisi has taken to the capital’s streets urging the public to attend the opposition rally on November 8 in central Tbilisi and ‘protect their votes.’
Opposition parties state that the October 31 parliamentary elections were fabricated and are demanding repeat elections.
The motorcade organised by the United National Movement party is accompanied by a song ‘Misha is great’, a song about the third president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili.
- Ex-President Saakashvili urges people to join opposition rally in Tbilisi: coronavirus not deadly, losing the state is deadly
- Georgian Dream executive secretary names ex-president Saakashvili behind ‘revolutionary scenario’
The UNM activists say that somebody shot in the air from a car while they were rallying at the residence of the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili in central Tbilisi.
It was to make us afraid,” said one of the activists.
Police are at the scene as of now, looking into the incident.
The ruling Georgian Dream party says that the elections were conducted fairly and they have international recognition, claiming the opposition parties have become the ‘captives’ of the UNM which ‘wants destabilisation and revolution in Georgian’.
Georgian Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze stated earlier today that the protests will cause a sharp increase in daily cases of coronavirus, adding that the opposition should sit at the table of negotiations instead of taking to the street.
Leader of the European Georgia opposition party Sergi Kapanadze says that the government may report ‘boosted figures’ of new cases of coronavirus to make people afraid.
However, he said that ‘thousands of people’ will attend the rally and the opposition will ensure the distribution of facemasks and sanitizers.
Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria has urged opposition parties to ensure strict observance of all recommendations, rules and restrictions during their election protests imposed to prevent the further spread of coronavirus.
Georgia has reported 2,775 new cases of coronavirus, 3,560 recoveries and 22 deaths in the past 24 hours. Georgia has had 51,993 cases of coronavirus since February 26, 2020. Since then 37,019 individuals have recovered, while 423 others have died. 4,618 patients are undergoing treatment in hospitals as of today. 619 of the 4,489 patients are in critical condition. 268 of the 638 critical patients are on artificial ventilation.
Member of opposition party European Georgia Irma Nadirashvili states that the founder and the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili is ‘more dangerous for Georgia than Covid-19,’ responding to the statement of Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia that opposition rallies will cause a sharp increase in coronavirus cases.
Former President of Georgia, Ukrainian citizen Mikheil Saakashvili, has urged people to join the opposition rally on November 8 in Tbilisi despite the recent surge in coronavirus cases.
Police officers have detained one individual who shot several times from his vehicle while driving through the tunnel located near the business center of Bidzina Ivanishvili.
The United States Embassy and the European Union delegation to Georgia have released a joint statement today calling on all Georgians who plan to exercise their right to assembly on November 8 ‘to do so peacefully and with respect to COVID-19 precautions’. They also call on the Georgian authorities to assist in providing such an environment.
Starting November 9, a curfew will go into effect in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi, Rustavi, Zugdidi, Gori and Poti between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. amid an uptick in coronavirus cases. Vice Prime Minister Maia Tskitishvili announced at a news briefing earlier today that the interagency coordination council has made a decision based on the epidemiological situation in the country and the increased cases of infection.
A total of 2,901 new cases of coronavirus have been reported in Georgia over the last 24 hours, including 1,060 cases in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Meanwhile, 2,799 people have recovered from the virus, while 34 others have died.