"I am here and not going anywhere," - Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili ahead of the ruling party's presidential elections
Zourabichvili rejects the presidential elections
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has called the planned “Christmas tree lighting ceremony” on December 14 in Tbilisi a “provocation.” The event, organized by Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, will take place at Freedom Square and in front of Parliament, areas where thousands have protested for over two weeks.
Demonstrators are opposing the government’s decision to suspend Georgia’s European integration until 2028 and are demanding new parliamentary elections.
On the same day, Parliament is scheduled to elect a new president. However, the opposition, the president, much of the population, and many Western partners have alleged that the October 26 parliamentary elections were falsified, rendering the parliament illegitimate and unable to conduct the presidential election.
Thousands of protesters are expected to gather outside Parliament in the morning to urge lawmakers to listen to their demands. By the evening, when Kaladze invited families and children to the ceremony, tens of thousands are anticipated to join the protests.
“The responsibility for any possible developments should be placed on Tbilisi Mayor Kaha Kaladze,” the president said at a briefing on December 13.
The main Christmas tree is set to be lit at 7 p.m. near Parliament, where protesters have gathered daily since November 28, opposing the Georgian Dream party’s decision to delay European integration efforts and calling for new elections.
Zourabichvili urged the mayor to move the Christmas tree lighting ceremony from Parliament Square to Orbeliani Square near the Presidential Administration, which the city had already designated as the center for its “New Year Village” festivities.
She also reminded about warnings from doctors stating that “the facades of buildings and trees on Rustaveli Avenue are contaminated with gas used to disperse protesters for many days, and it is undesirable to bring children there.“
Zourabichvili: “These are not presidential elections, but an illegal, unconstitutional mockery”
Zourabichvili’s presidential powers will expire on December 17. For the first time, Georgia’s next president will not be elected through a nationwide vote but by a special electoral college.
However, all four opposition groups that entered parliament — three alliances and the “Gakharia for Georgia” party — along with Zourabichvili herself, have claimed the elections were falsified, the parliament is illegitimate, and has no authority to make any decisions, including electing a new president.
Both the opposition and Zourabichvili maintain that she remains Georgia’s legitimate president, the sole functioning democratic institution, the commander-in-chief, and the highest representative of the nation in foreign relations until new parliamentary elections are held.
Zourabichvili has described the ruling party’s planned presidential elections on December 14 as a “mockery” after the parliament’s assertion that it is no longer a one-party body with the emergence of “opposition factions.”
This newly formed “People’s Power” group, which split from the ruling Georgian Dream party, is being labeled as “pseudo-opposition.” Although it existed in 2023, the group joined Georgian Dream before the elections and has now re-established itself as separate again.
Zourabichvili: “It is impossible to intimidate and arrest everyone”
“Georgian society is united by the idea of a European Georgia; there is national consensus on this issue. Every day, more and more people are taking to the streets to protest, make statements, sign petitions, and organize marches.
The entire country is involved. The protests have even included public sector employees, which is very unusual for our society.
It is impossible to intimidate and arrest everyone. Threats and methods tested by various totalitarian regimes cannot break our society. All of Georgia has risen, and the people have made their voices heard. These sentiments may have existed in other forms, but today they have become a reality,” Zourabichvili said.
