Parliament vice speaker on anniversary of 2007 rally dispersal under previous gov’t: “this should never happen again”

Archil Talakvadze, the Georgian parliament’s vice speaker, on Monday reacted to the anniversary of the November 7, 2007 violent dispersal of protesters in Tbilisi by United National Movement by saying the date reminded the public of the “methods used” by the previous government and the “current so-called main opposition”, and stressing “this should never happen again”.

November 7 is a date that reminds the entire public of the methods used by the previous government and the current so-called main opposition [UNM party] in their ruling of the country, [of] how it treated people and the facade democracy it created, [under which] in the name of alleged democratic reforms it oppressed, tortured and dispersed the public. It should never happen again”, the GD official said.

In his remarks over the date, Talakvadze stressed it was “necessary to call things by their proper names” to ensure incidents like the dispersal did not happen again.

We must properly assess evil and be fair whenever we assess events, history or present time. This is the most important lesson from the events of November 7”, he noted.

The 2007 incident followed a series of anti-government protests across Georgia. Launched on September 28, the rallies peaked on November 2, when up to 100,000 people gathered outside the parliament building in the capital. 

Organised by a coalition involving major opposition parties, protesters urged then-president Mikheil Saakashvili to step down. In response, riot police used tear gas and water cannons to break up the principal rally downtown Tbilisi, with  508 people taken to hospital following the violent attack.

Saakashvili, who had accused the Russian secret service of involvement in the “coup d’etat” attempt in response to the rallies, declared a nationwide state of emergency that lasted 15 days.