On December 23, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili released her video address to Georgians following a sabotaged attempt to address the crowd at a rally the day before. She stressed the need for dialogue with the ruling party and invited the founder of Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili, to the Orbeliani Palace to set the date for new elections by December 29, with the specific conditions that need to be met to increase public confidence in them. She also announced the creation of special council to prepare for the new elections.
President Zurabishvili emphasized that the 25 days of protests in Georgia have continued with “wonderful mood” in the public and expressed confidence that Georgians won’t be intimidated into stopping the protests.
She stressed that the simple truth of the matter is that the elections were rigged and the trust towards the authorities has eroded. However, the struggle for justice through constitutional and legal means has come to an end. The evidence of rigged elections has been presented to all possible courts, with the Constitutional Court not even considering the President’s appeal. She noted that the very last resort is the appeal to the Court of Strasbourg, which takes a very long time to issue its verdict.
The crisis is deepening, the President said and not matter how GD ignores is even they realize it must be resolved. Zurabishvili emphasized that after the ODIHR report, the Western partners “stopped expressing concerns” and started taking concrete actions, which means that the “political, social, economic, financial and international” crisis has turned to the phase that leaves only two ways to solve it.
- 20/12/2024 – ODIHR Final Report Reiterates Multiple Concerns over October 26 Elections, Calls for Concrete Action
She said there are two solutions out of the crisis: the first option is to hold these elections in the shortest possible time and under conditions that will restore the trust of voters. And to that end, to reach an agreement with the ruling team that these elections will be held within the agreed time frame.
“The dialogue should be with me…as a mediator, she said “and with those who participated in these elections – parties, observers…” On the other side there should be Bidzina Ivanishvili and several representatives of his party, as many as he wishes, the President said, noting that even if he comes along she is willing to meet him in that format as well.
She stressed: “We have very little time for this because this crisis is unbearable and if this week we came to the conclusion that we need to take care of this country, we need to take care of this society, calm it down and give it the key to peace, then why postpone it, let’s meet this week, until the 29th. I am ready and will accept it in any form.”
She spoke about the second option: “If this compromise option, this dialogue, is not reached, there is also a second option – we will get to the elections through the collpase of this regime, there is no other way. This regime is already collapsing. This is the alternative – either dialogue, compromise, concession or not, and this means the collapse of the regime.”
President Zurabishvili also announced the creation of a special council to prepare for the new elections. She said: “A council will be established to manage this period. The council will have one and only one mandate, which will be to prepare for new elections. A document is already being prepared after teh todays meeting [with opposition] and will probably be ready tomorrow, describing all the minimum conditions for holding elections very soon. Then we will work to prepare from all angles and possible directions. These new elections will really be new elections and probably new forces will emerge and we all have to be ready for this,” said Salome Zurabishvili.
Finally, the President noted that there is a lot of talk about 29 December, when her term as President expires. She said that some people are intimidating and frightening her about the day her mandate ends, while others are expressing their willingness to protect her. She emphasized that she doesn’t need protection, that she is not afraid, that she will continue to be President after the 29th. She reiterated that no one in Georgia wanted chaos, revolution or civil war, but that everyone wanted Georgia to develop democratically and peacefully with its Western partners. “This country will go its own way peacefully, have new elections and be very successful and strong,” she concluded.
Also Read: