Zourabichvili invites Ivanishvili for negotiations
On December 22, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili addressed a massive pro-European rally on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi, inviting Bidzina Ivanishvili—the honorary chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, widely considered the country’s shadow ruler—to meet at the presidential administration to discuss plans for new parliamentary elections.
The president announced she would wait for Ivanishvili on Monday, December 23, and stressed the urgency of holding the meeting before December 29, when Georgian Dream intends to inaugurate its newly elected president, Mikheil Kavelashvili.
Zourabichvili reaffirmed her commitment to the constitution, declaring that she “remains the legitimate president of Georgia and commander-in-chief until new parliamentary elections are held.”
For more than three weeks, pro-European protests have swept through the streets of Tbilisi and other cities across Georgia. Tens of thousands of demonstrators are calling for the protection of the constitution—enshrining the country’s path toward European integration—and demanding new parliamentary elections to enable a legitimate change of government.
The opposition, the president, and civil society have rejected the October 26 parliamentary elections as fraudulent, refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the parliament, the government it formed, or the newly elected president.
During Zourabichvili’s speech on Rustaveli Avenue, her microphone was abruptly cut off after a few minutes, forcing her to continue addressing the crowd with a megaphone.
“Let’s meet at the presidential administration and discuss new parliamentary elections,” said Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, inviting oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, widely regarded as the shadow ruler of Georgia. “After all, he is the one pulling all the strings,” she… pic.twitter.com/hu8zjXwTMf
— JAMnews (@JAMnewsCaucasus) December 22, 2024
There are already hundreds of thousands gathered on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi. President Salome Zourabichvili is speaking: “Georgia will be free, Georgia is Europe,” she says. The crowd chants, “Salome!” and then, “Elections!”
For 25 days now, large-scale protests have been… pic.twitter.com/Q7PW9L3rFT
— JAMnews (@JAMnewsCaucasus) December 22, 2024
What did Salome Zourabichvili say?
“This is a very symbolic place where I now stand before you (School No. 1 on Rustaveli Avenue). My father studied here […] A new Georgia has already been born thanks to you, and tomorrow it will be a strong, European Georgia—nothing can stop this.
I’ve been told I’ll soon be imprisoned.”
Earlier, Irakli Kobakhidze, the prime minister appointed by Georgian Dream, stated that Salome Zourabichvili would be jailed if she refused to step down before December 29, when the ruling party plans to inaugurate its chosen new president, Mikheil Kavelashvili.
“Are we afraid? Anyone who says a [revolution] is being born here is lying, as they do about so much else. What reigns here is peace, love, and freedom. <…> Let me tell you what I will do. I will remain loyal to the Georgian army, which defends Georgia and is committed to our partners who have equipped and strengthened it. I am and will remain its commander-in-chief. No one should think I am not the president of all. I am and I will be! <…>
The parliamentary elections on October 26 were illegitimate and unrecognized—neither by you nor by Georgia’s international partners.
When a government is illegitimate and unconstitutional, we are plunged into a deep crisis. The only way out of it in any democratic country is to hold new elections. Therefore, I invite Kobakhidze, the speaker of parliament from Georgian Dream, Papuashvili, as well as other parties that participated in the elections and the organizations that observed them. Let’s discuss how and when to schedule new elections.
[…] Let Ivanishvili come to the negotiations about new elections—he’s the one in charge of everything. Until December 29, we have a chance to move this country forward and make it a symbol of democracy, reconciliation, and progress. I await a response. And to be clear, on the evening of December 23, I will record a new address from the presidential administration.”
Visioner, a project estimating the number of protest participants, reported that on December 21 and 22, no fewer than 200,000 people gathered in central Tbilisi each evening. Irakli Kobakhidze, however, claimed that the opposition and the president were unable to draw more than 3,000 people.
