Opposition UNM party rally underway in Tbilisi
The rally was announced in March by UNM Chair Levan Khabeishvili, who said his party was giving the Government time until April 9 to implement the European Union’s conditions for granting the country the membership candidate status or it would face protests. Photo via IPN
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The leaders and supporters of the United National Movement party are currently gathered at a rally in front of the Parliament building in central Tbilisi.
Representatives of the youth wing of the UNM party have marched from the Rustaveli metro station and joined the gathering in front of the legislative body.
The rally was announced in March by UNM Chair Levan Khabeishvili, who said his party was giving the Government time until April 9 to implement the European Union’s conditions for granting the country the membership candidate status or it would face protests.
Some opposition figures have announced they would not be present at the protest, including Salome Samadashvili, the MP for the opposition Lelo party, who called the purpose of the rally “unclear”.
Aleko Elisashvili, the leader of the Citizens opposition party, also criticised the coinciding of the demonstration with an anniversary of the violent dispersal of peaceful protesters in Tbilisi by Soviet forces on April 9, 1989, and said it was “unacceptable” for him to join the likes of Vano Merabishvili, the former Interior Minister in the UNM Government and now an opposition figure, at “any rally”.
Salome Samadashvili, an MP for the opposition Lelo party, on Thursday called the purpose of the rally scheduled by the opposition United National Movement party in Tbilisi on April 9 “unclear”.
Thea Tsulukiani, the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Culture, Sport and Youth Affairs of Georgia, on Friday said it was “up to the European Union and not the domestic opposition” to set deadlines for the implementation of the bloc’s conditions for granting the country its membership candidate status.
Aleko Elisashvili, the leader of the Citizens opposition party, on Thursday said he would not join the rally scheduled by a part of the domestic opposition in central Tbilisi on April 9 due to its connection to the United National Movement opposition party.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said the opposition United National Movement party’s boycotting of the Parliament was “incompatible” with goals of implementation of the European Union conditions for granting the country its membership candidate status.