At once, four opposition political parties of Georgia declared that they do not recognize the legitimacy of the presidential elections to be held in Georgia on December 14.
"Coalition for Changes", "Unity — National Movement", "Strong Georgia" and "Gakharia for Georgia" informed about this in a joint statement.
"We, the political parties that won the elections on October 26, do not recognize the self-proclaimed government or any of its branches. The only legitimate state institution is the president. Therefore, the only legitimate representative of Georgia is Salome Zurabishvili," the political forces said in a statement.
The opposition emphasizes that the current parliament of Georgia is not legitimate, therefore the current president of Georgia remains the head of the country, the commander-in-chief of the Defense Forces and the highest representative of Georgia in foreign relations.
According to the opposition, the only way out of this "acute political crisis" is to hold new parliamentary elections in the country.
Earlier, the ruling pro-Russian party "Georgian Dream" informed that the election of the president of Georgia will be held on December 14, and the inauguration — on December 29. Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said that the six-year term of current President Zurabishvili will expire on December 16. "Georgian Dream" plans to approve the football veteran and currently MP Mykhailo Kavelashvili as president.
The current president of the country Salome Zurabishvili has stated that the new parliament is illegitimate and will not be able to elect a new president, so her mandate will continue until a new president is elected by the new parliament.
The Prime Minister of Georgia Iraklii Kobakhidze then reported that, as planned, the presidential elections of Georgia will be held on December 14.
What preceded
Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia in October. According to the Central Election Commission, the pro-ruling pro-Russian party "Georgian Dream — Democratic Georgia" won with 53.9% of the vote. According to Georgian laws, this party gets the right to single-handedly form the government. The European Parliament did not recognize the election results.
The 5% barrier was overcome by four more pro-Western opposition parties. The opposition and the president did not agree with the results, protests began
On November 28, 2024, the Prime Minister of Georgia Iraklii Kobakhidze informed that Georgia was abandoning negotiations on joining the EU until 2028. He explained that 2028 will supposedly be the time when Georgia will be economically ready to start accession negotiations. After that, large-scale protests began in the country, which were dispersed by security forces using water cannons and tear gas.
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