Georgian Opposition Plans To Continue Protests Until New Elections, Saakashvili's Release

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published November 02, 2021 | 04:08 PM

Georgian opposition will not stop protesting until early parliamentary elections are scheduled and former President Mikheil Saakashvili is released from prison, a member of the United National Movement party, Koba Nakopia, said on Tuesda

TBILISI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd November, 2021) Georgian opposition will not stop protesting until early parliamentary elections are scheduled and former President Mikheil Saakashvili is released from prison, a member of the United National Movement party, Koba Nakopia, said on Tuesday.

"The Georgian authorities have taken away the elections from the Georgian people. The only constitutional right left is to carry out peaceful protest. I hope that a lot of people will come to Freedom Square in Tbilisi on Saturday. The protests will continue until early parliamentary elections are scheduled and President Saakashvili is released," Nakopia told reporters.

On Saturday, the second round of local elections was held in Georgia. Candidates from the ruling Georgian Dream party became mayors in 19 out of 20 municipalities, including in five large cities: Tbilisi, Rustavi, Batumi, Poti, Kutaisi.

Opposition parties did not recognize the election results. They announced a large-scale protest in the center of Tbilisi on November 7.

The protest was later rescheduled to November 6. Before that, Georgian opposition plans to hold rallies in other large cities of the country. Saakashvili said it was necessary to force the Georgian authorities to call early parliamentary elections.

Saakashvili, who fled Georgia in 2013, was arrested on October 1 after returning to his home country. In Georgia, he was convicted in absentia of murder, punishable by three years in prison, and assault, punishable by six years, among other charges. The 53-year-old Saakashvili has rejected all charges as politically motivated.

After his arrest, Saakashvili declared a hunger strike as he considers himself a political prisoner. It has been going on for 33 days. The Georgian authorities refuse to release the politician. Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said that Saakashvili would serve the entire sentence. He also promised that the authorities would prevent any revolutionary scenarios and provocations by Saakashvili's party.