Noise at the end of the tunnel: the new parliament has started working in Georgia
In Georgia, despite fierce opposition protests, the first session of the renewed parliament was held. The ruling party also announced the new composition of the government, with three new ministers. At the same time, political tension in the country is not decreasing, and the presidential election is coming up, which also promises to be scandalous. "Izvestia" looked into the situation.
A new parliament has started working in Georgia
On November 25, the first session of the new parliament, formed following the results of the elections held a month ago, was held in Georgia. The event was attended by 88 deputies out of 150, all of whom represented the ruling Georgian Dream party. None of the opposition forces joined the work, but the legitimacy of their decision was not affected - according to the law, the first session is considered to be held if at least 76 deputies attended.
During the session, the deputies took an oath of allegiance to the people, sang the national anthem, and then voted for a resolution recognizing their own rights. Next, they should proceed to personnel matters. It is known that the honorary chairman of the ruling party Bidzina Ivanishvili has nominated the current head of the government Irakli Kobakhidze for the post of Prime Minister. Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili should also retain his post.
Spot replacements are expected in the government. For example, the Minister of Foreign Affairs will be replaced by Ilya Darchiashvili by Maka Bochorishvili, who has been working on European integration for more than 20 years. In different years she headed the country's embassy in Belgium and Georgia's representation to the EU, since 2020 she has been heading the parliamentary committee on relations with Europe. In addition, Irakli Kobakhidze announced the appointment of new Ministers of Justice and Agriculture.
At the same time, the opposition protests continued outside the walls of the Parliament. Back in the evening of November 24, several columns of protesters marched through the center of Tbilisi and met near the building of the legislative assembly. On the spot they quickly set up tents and lit fires, the number of protesters was not very impressive, judging by photos, there were up to a thousand participants. In the afternoon of November 25, the protesters became more numerous, but they still failed to block all the entrances to the parliament building and prevent the first session.
The opposition leaders did not hide their disappointment. For example, former President Mikheil Saakashvili said that a "classic dictatorship" had been established in the country. "There is no police, no law enforcement system in Georgia, there is only a self-proclaimed government. Your generation has not managed to avoid strengthening dictatorial power," he said. In his turn, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili emphasized that the Georgian leadership made the right choice after the start of the Russian SWO in Ukraine, which allowed to preserve peace in the country.
The opposition hopes for help from the West
As a result, we can say that the Georgian authorities have won the current round of confrontation against the opposition without much tension. Interestingly, so far it looks like the victory of the Georgian Dream was even easier than in the previous elections in 2020. Back then, the main opposition force received a rather serious result - 27%, and the rallies after the voting was over were also much more violent.
Now there is no talk of large-scale protests, although the opposition still has options to turn the situation in its favor. On the one hand, the legal battle continues, one of the lawsuits was filed in the Constitutional Court by the opposition president Salome Zurabishvili, who demands to recognize the elections as rigged, and it is expected that the verdict will be delivered by the end of the year.
On the other hand, the opposition hopes for help from the EU and the US. It is known that earlier opponents of the Georgian Dream asked European leaders to recognize the election results as invalid, declare the current convocation of parliament illegitimate and create a commission to investigate all violations. According to a number of testimonies, the protesters also propose to cancel visa-free travel for Georgian citizens in order to make them more active against the authorities of the country.
The response to these proposals should follow in the coming days. Thus, the deputies of the European Parliament are going to adopt a resolution on the situation in the Transcaucasian republic at the plenary session on November 28. Earlier there were debates of MEPs, during which many critical remarks were made. For example, Vice-President of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas stated that the elections in Georgia "were unfortunately held with serious violations". Some other MPs, however, appealed to the opposition to accept defeat.
In addition, the head of Euro-diplomacy Josep Borrel said that the current elections recorded a "democratic backlash and deviation from the European path of development." "We will invite the head of the OSCE/ODIHR observation mission to Georgia to present his assessment on voting irregularities to the member states. We will convene a meeting of the European Council so that member states are aware of all violations," he warned.
Finally, the third point is related to the peculiarities of the Georgian domestic political agenda. The fact is that in the near future presidential elections will be held in the country, and for the first time the procedure will be held with the participation of a special electoral college. The date of voting has not been determined yet, the ruling party says that they would like to do it by the end of the year. It is clear that farewell to Salome Zurabishvili and appointment of a new person may become a new reason for loud proceedings and scandals.
What experts say
Petre Mamradze, a former member of the Georgian parliament, believes that it is time for the opposition to accept defeat.
- Everything was clear on election day when not a single living soul came out to protest. This is nonsense for Georgia - if people feel that they have been deceived, they will gather without any calls. Here there is absolute silence, i.e. there is no protest charge in the society. The opposition inertially scolds the authorities, calls people to rally, but all in vain. Only the critical position of the West remains a problem for the ruling party. But I think that Brussels and Washington will gradually have to come to terms with the current results," he emphasizes.
Nikolai Silaev, a leading researcher at the Center for Caucasus and Regional Security Issues at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, says that the Georgian opposition does not enjoy mass support, which is why the protests are weak.
- The position of the West is not so simple either. After Donald Trump's victory in the United States, the situation for the Georgian authorities has become much more favorable. The President-elect of the United States shares conservative values, speaks a lot about the desire for peace and in this very similar to the leaders of the Georgian Dream. In such conditions, it seems that Tbilisi can hope that the United States and the European Union will not form a united front against Ivanishvili and his team," he notes.
