Tens of thousands of pro-European protesters gathered on Sunday, October 20, in Tbilisi, Georgia, a week before legislative elections that are crucial for the country’s democratic future and are worth “referendum” between Europe and Russia.
The pro-European opposition of this small Caucasian country, made up of four main alliances, next Saturday faces the ruling conservative party, Georgian Dream, accused by its detractors of pro-Russian authoritarian drift and of derailing Tbilisi’s plan to join the European Union. Union.
On the streets of the center of Tbilisi, the capital, numerous protesters arrived with Georgian and European Union (EU) flags, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist present at the scene. Others hold signs at night that say: “Georgia chooses the EU.” The crowd gathered in Freedom Square at the call of several NGOs who want “show your determination to continue on the path to membership” to the EU.
“Europe or the return to an uncertain Russian past”
The latest polls in recent days seem to indicate that the opposition alliance could obtain enough votes on October 26 to defeat Georgian Dream, the party of billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. At 68 years old, he has secretly held the reins of power for about ten years, without holding any government position. The results will be closely scrutinized in Brussels, at a time when European leaders fear Georgia is backing away from its ambition to join the EU. However, the goal of European membership is enshrined in the Constitution of this former Soviet republic.
The pro-European president Salomé Zourabichvili, at odds with the Government but with very limited powers, explained the situation at the beginning of October in an interview with AFP: “We have a quasi-referendum on the choice between Europe or a return to an uncertain Russian past. »
Opposite, the oligarch and former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili periodically criticizes the West and asks his followers to vote for his Georgian Dream party, for “choosing between slavery and freedom, submission to foreign powers and sovereignty, war and peace”. The government has said it will ban pro-Western opposition parties if Georgian Dream wins a sufficient majority to pass the measure.
Youth protest
The vote on Saturday, October 26, one of the most important in the country since the fall of the USSR according to observers, comes after several waves of anti-government protests led in particular by young people.
In May, protesters took to the streets en masse against a law on “foreign influence”criticized in the West because it was inspired by Russian legislation on “foreign agents” used to suppress dissenting voices.
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Brussels subsequently froze Georgia’s EU accession process and the United States imposed sanctions on Georgian officials accused of having authorized a “brutal repression” protesters. Tbilisi responded by threatening to ” bye “ its diplomatic relations with Washington. The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, recently expressed his concern about “slide” from georgia “Towards authoritarianism”describing the vote as “crucial test”.
Russia, a historical player in the Caucasus, shares almost 1,000 kilometers of border with Georgia. Ivanishvili made his fortune there after the fall of the USSR, before returning to Georgia in the early 2000s. In a sign of what is at stake, the Kremlin accused the West of interference on Tuesday, October 15. “unconcealed” in the next elections.
Several observers have already warned of the risk of unrest if Georgian Dream tries to cling to power whatever the outcome of the election, with others citing possible future fraud.
