The single-party parliament of the Georgian Dream party in Tbilisi has adopted a number of bills that, in particular, will make rallies more difficult and deprive the current head of state of protection.
This is reported by the Georgian media Formula News and Business Media Georgia.
The initial version of the document, which applies to protesters, banned pyrotechnics, firearms and cold weapons, explosives, flammable and radioactive substances. MP Archil Gordeladze proposed on December 11 to include lasers on the list.
The use of lasers, it is claimed, could “interfere with the activities of government employees” and disrupt their equipment. In addition, demonstrators were prohibited from wearing masks or covering their faces in any way.
Also in the third reading, a bill was passed that would deprive Salome Zurabishvili of state protection after the end of her presidential term. 85 MPs voted in favor. According to the changes, former prime ministers, presidents, or parliament speakers will not have personal protection if their terms were terminated due to a violation of the Constitution or a crime.
In October, Georgiaʼs Constitutional Court ruled that Zurabishvili had violated the law by traveling to Europe without government approval. The government had denied the president access to meetings abroad, so she traveled to European partners at her own expense.
According to Formula News, Georgian Dream tried to impeach Zurabishvili for two days, but the vote failed.
Presidential elections in Georgia
Earlier, the pro-government, pro-Russian Georgian Dream party announced that the presidential elections in Georgia will be held on December 14, and the inauguration will be held on December 29. Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said that the six-year term of incumbent President Zurabishvili expires on December 16. Georgian Dream plans to approve football veteran and current MP Mikhail Kavelashvili as president.
The countryʼs current president 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 the new parliament elects a new president.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze subsequently reported that, as planned, the Georgian presidential elections would be held on December 14.
What preceded
Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia in October. According to the Central Election Commission, the pro-government, pro-Russian party Georgian Dream — Democratic Georgia won, gaining 53.9% of the vote. Under Georgian law, this party has the right to form a government alone. The European Parliament did not recognize the election results.
Four more pro-Western opposition parties broke the 5% barrier. The opposition and the president disagreed with the results, and protests began.
On November 28, 2024, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze informed that Georgia was abandoning EU accession negotiations until 2028. He explained that 2028 would supposedly be the time when Georgia would be economically ready to begin 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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