Georgia PM says protesters tried to overthrow government, vows crackdown

Georgia’s prime minister has claimed that the protesters who stormed the presidential palace were attempting to overthrow the government and that the EU has meddled in international politics.

Irakli Kobakhidze claimed on Sunday that demonstrators in opposition were trying to “overthrow the constitutional order” and that EU Ambassador Pawel Herczynski, who he claimed supported the rally, lacked “special responsibility.” Kobakhidze urged Herczynski to “distance himself and vehemently condemn everything that is happening on Tbilisi’s streets,” according to Georgian news agency Interpress.

Kobakhidze also pledged to “completely neutralize foreign agents.”

As the opposition staged a sizable demonstration on the day of local elections, Georgian riot police detained five activists and used pepper spray and water cannons to pelt demonstrators out of the presidential palace in Tbilisi’s city center on Saturday.

According to local media, the Georgian Ministry of Labour, Health, and Social Affairs reported that six protesters and 21 security personnel were hurt in the incidents.

Nearly 7, 000 people, according to Kobakhidze, took part in the protest in the city’s capital, which has 3.7 million people in South Caucasus.

They “started the overthrow attempt,” and then “they moved on.” They then began distancing themselves from it after it failed,” Kobakhidze said. No one can escape responsibility. Political responsibility is included in this.

The two main opposition blocs call the claim that the ruling Georgian Dream party, which critics claim is close to Russia, has won majorities in all municipalities a sham.

Kakha Kaladze, a former player for AC Milan, has been elected mayor of the city.

Opposition organizations organized a “peaceful revolution” against the Georgian Dream and organized rallies to support the outcome. In what the organizers described as an act of resistance, thousands of people gathered in Freedom Square and Rustaveli Avenue in central Tbilisi to protest against the riot police who had set fire to adjacent streets.

Senior Georgian Dream party members have consistently denied Kremlin connections. Kobakhidze described the country’s desire to join the EU as “steady and irreversible” in an opinion piece for Euronews last week.

Georgia’s course is “European, peaceful, and principled.” We are playing our part. We are unwavering about reform, steadfast in our obligations, and focused on delivering results, Kobakhidze wrote.

Since Georgian Dream won parliamentary elections in October of last year, which the opposition claimed were “rigged,” the country has experienced a political crisis. Salome Zourabichvili, the pro-Western president of Georgia, said at the time, “This was a total rigging, a total robbery of your votes,” adding that the nation had been swept up in a “Russian special operation.”

Since then, opposition figures have been organizing demonstrations, which have resulted in strong government protests. Police have frequently clashed with demonstrators and made numerous arrests.