Georgian president: "I will remain in office until the country has a legitimate parliament"

Georgian president to stay until new elections

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili held an emergency briefing on Nov. 30, declaring herself the country’s only legitimate authority. She pledged to remain in office and lead the country until new, fair parliamentary elections are held and a legitimate parliament is established.

Zourabichvili has repeatedly claimed that the Oct. 26 parliamentary elections were rigged and has called for fresh elections with the involvement of Western partners.

Earlier in November, she filed a case with the Constitutional Court, alleging violations of voting secrecy during the elections and demanding a review of the mandates of all 150 newly elected MPs.

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What Salome Zourabichvili said at the briefing

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili declared herself the country’s only remaining independent and legitimate institution, emphasizing the presence of a “national consensus” around her leadership.

“Representatives of society and political party leaders will gather around me to serve the people. Together, we will steer the political process, while the people lead from the streets outside,” Zourabichvili said.

“We will work together to plan the future, which we will soon achieve through new parliamentary elections. This new Georgia will reclaim its European path, its independence, and, most importantly, its freedom to develop—a freedom we will not allow anyone to take from us.”

Zourabichvili announced she would reconvene the next day alongside political and civic leaders to lead the political process.

“I remain your president. An illegitimate parliament cannot elect a new president, so my mandate continues until a legally elected parliament is formed and lawfully elects a new president,” she said.

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Following a meeting with President Salome Zourabichvili, leaders of four opposition parties that entered parliament after the Oct. 26 elections but rejected their results as fraudulent issued a joint statement. The parties have refused to take their seats in parliament.

The statement expressed the opposition’s readiness to provide protesters with effective legal, informational, and medical support. It also demanded the immediate release of over 150 people detained during the protests.

The opposition leaders called for new parliamentary elections as the solution to the crisis and urged the international community to “condemn systematic violence against peaceful demonstrators, issue clear statements rejecting the results of the fraudulent elections, and implement effective countermeasures.”

In a recent interview with Deutsche Welle, Zourabichvili described the protesters as peaceful and said they are demanding a return to Georgia’s European path and the holding of new parliamentary elections.

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