BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
In the event of such opposition actions, the Georgian government and the police will continue to act in full compliance with the law, said Georgian Prime Minister Georgi Gakharia referring to the ongoing opposition rallies, Trend reports citing Georgian media outlets.
According to him, freedom of expression in the country is fully guaranteed within the law; however, if and when the public institutions get illegally blocked, police will act fully under the law and do the same all over again.
“Blocked streets cause a serious problem to many of our citizens. Same applies to open camp fire and barricades erected in the streets of the capital city. It is absolutely unacceptable. Political process should flow within the Parliament, media, ballot box or within the boundaries of the law by taking the right of expression into consideration. Right of expression is granted to anyone in this country and nobody will go elsewhere to hold a meeting when the Parliament building exists. No problem is associated with actions taken within the law; however, when barricades are erected and public institutions are blocked, police will take action,” concluded the Prime Minister of Georgia.
As a result of the rally held on November 19, five people were hospitalized; two of them were law enforcement officers.
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.