Opposition rally ends, will resume at Rustaveli Avenue tomorrow
Opposition politicians and their supporters marched from Rustaveli Avenue to the Central Election Commission demanding dismissal of Tamar Zhvania. Photo: Tornike Mandaria/RFERL
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The protest rally in front of the Central Election Commission (CEC) has come to an end after police used water cannons to disperse the demonstrators.
Opposition United National Movement (UNM) member Nika Melia has called on the protesters to leave the area for now and gather again at 6 p.m. at Rustaveli Avenue tomorrow.
Accusing the ruling party of violence, Melia said the opposition will not stop the protest until their demands are met. Another opposition leader Aleko Elisahvili added as well that they will not step back, but ‘continue the fight’.
Prior to that, ruling Georgian Dream party Executive Secretary Irakli Kobakhidze stated at a news briefing that Nika Melia and his ‘zonder groups’ have been trying to storm the CEC building.
Calling Melia ‘a criminal’, Kobakhidze called on the participants of the protest rally ‘to refrain from illegal activities’; he also called on the interior ministry ‘to use proportional force’.
Opposition politicians and their supporters gathered in front of the parliament of Georgia on November 8 demanding free and fair repeat elections be held, CEC chair Tamar Zhvania be dismissed and fair composition of election commissions be ensured, and all political detainees be released.
As the ruling party did not respond to their demands by 8 p.m., they marched to the CEC, where police used water cannons to dispersed them.
Local non-governmental organisations Human Rights Education and Monitoring Centre (EMC), Transparency International Georgia (TI) and International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) call on the interior ministry not to use police forces against peaceful demonstrators. Meanwhile, opposition politicians, who refuse to take their parliamentary mandates and demand to hold repeat parliamentary elections, plan to stay at the CEC overnight.
Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria condemns the illegal acquisition and release of audio recordings allegedly involving Georgian opposition politicians, which were published by Ukrainian media outlet Obozrevatel on November 6.
The ruling Georgian Dream party Executive Secretary Irakli Kobakhidze was questioned at the State Security Service of Georgia over his recent statements concerning the ‘revolutionary scenario’ which he had claimed the opposition was planning to develop amid the parliamentary elections.
District election commissions have received 1,561 appeals as of now related to the parliamentary elections held on October 31 in Georgia, said Head of Human Resources Department at the Central Election Commission (CEC) Giorgi Kalandarishvili.
During the protest rally on November 8, police detained 19 individuals for 'violating public order and disobedience to a rightful command of the police.’
The Central Election Commission has published an announcement where it responds to opposition’s rally held yesterday in front of the CEC building, calling it the pressure on the Election Administration, noting readiness to discuss any topic related to the elections peacefully with the involvement of various parties.