BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 17
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Opposition plans to picket in Georgia, Trend reports citing Georgian media outlets.
"We are going to hold a picket on Thursday [Dec. 19] and not allow the authorities to do insidious things," Gigi Ugulava, one of the leaders of European Georgia Party, said after the meeting with opposition leaders.
According to Ugulava, demonstrations will be held in Zugdidi and Batumi on December 21 and on December 22.
“Extraordinary sessions of parliament are scheduled for this week and picketing of the Parliament building is planned for December 19. The picketing will start since the morning,” he added.
According to Ugulava, the last round of negotiations of this year with Georgian parliamentary majority is scheduled for December 20.
As he noted, rallies will continue until the government fulfills the demands of the opposition.
The wave of rallies in Tbilisi began after the failure of the parliamentary vote on November 14 regarding the holding of parliamentary elections in the country in 2020. As reported, the parliament failed to approve the transition from a mixed to proportional parliamentary election system since 2020. It was necessary to amend the Georgian constitution, which required the support of 113 out of 150 deputies; however, during the vote, only 101 deputies supported the changes. Most of the deputies who abstained from the voting represented the ruling party, "Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia."
Demonstrators demand early parliamentary elections on a proportional system; the resignation of the current government and its replacement by the interim government; and renewal of the composition of Central Election Commission.
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