PM's resignation, closing sky for Russia, EU membership application - large-scale rally in Tbilisi
Large-scale rally in Tbilisi
Another large-scale rally was held in Tbilisi as a sign of solidarity with Ukraine. For the first time today, political demands have been made during the crowded rally in the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi:
- The Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Gharibashvili must resign
- Georgia must provide assistanceto Ukraine
- Georgia must apply for EU membership as soon as possible
The rally was organised after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky summoned an ambassador from Georgia for consultations on March 1. According to him, the reason for this decision was the position of the Georgian government regarding the war in Ukraine. Georgian authorities have prevented volunteers from flying to Ukraine and refused to impose sanctions on Russia.
Members of the government explain all decisions by citing “national interests” and “the security of the country”. The chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party called the recall of the Ukrainian ambassador an attempt to involve Georgia in the war.
These statements by members of the government provoked a strong reaction from the public. This was also felt at the rally held in the capital of Georgia today.
Today the action was the largest, most crowded and most emotional. Unlike the previous days, opposition politicians also appeared at the tribune, with quite emotional and harsh, anti-government calls.
Elene Khoshtaria, the leader of the opposition political party “Droa” voiced the demands made to the government:
First – Irakli Gharibashvili must leave and take the government with him. The shame he inflicted on Georgia must be washed away, he must leave and never represent our noble people again.
Second – We must take action and concrete steps to help Ukraine and actually be in solidarity with it. Let’s close the sky to Russia, open the sky to Ukraine .
Third – Today, Ukraine, with its sacrifice that has plagued us all for five nights, has opened up opportunities for us all to become part of a free Europe, and this opportunity that our ancestors dreamed of is on the table today, and these fools say that they do not want it, so our request is for Georgia to apply for the EU membership.
“We have faith that by standing together we will achieve all three of these conditions, we will take responsibility, we will not get tired, we will not give up and we will liberate this country because there is no limit beyond that”, said Elene Khoshtaria.
- Georgian PM Garibashvili: no one can stop the war, sanctions are ineffective
- Op-ed: which side is Georgia on in the conflict over Ukraine?
The speech of Zurab Japaridze, the leader of another opposition party “Girchi for more freedom” was also harsh and emotional. He said the solution is early elections:
“I think the main thing that brought us all out today is the anger, because of the shame that we all felt together.
No one has an accurate idea of what we can do. I can tell you what I think personally. Today, the President of Ukraine Zelensky told us that this building [of the Georgian Parliament], which is behind us and which has a huge symbolic significance in the history of independent Georgia, is the Kremlin. ..
We have to get to the snap elections, but the solution is for those who represent the Kremlin to leave this building. “Those who call themselves opposition MPs should be among them”, Zurab Japaridze said.
The rally on Rustaveli Avenue started at 19:00.
Elene Khoshtaria, leader of the Droa party, said protesters would stay in front of parliament overnight and move to the chancellery at 8 a.m. to prevent Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili from entering the chancellery.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Heavy fighting has been going on for several days now for the Ukrainian capital Kiev, as well as in many cities of the country. The Russian government says the invasion is aimed at changing the government, “demilitarizing and denationalizing” Ukraine.
Western nations say Russia has launched an unprovoked invasion of an independent country and imposed new sanctions on Russia, and provided arms and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
