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Georgian Prime Minister Says President Must Vacate Office.
TBILISI — Georgia’s prime minister has said President Salome Zurabishvili must leave office at the end of her term later this month, despite her pledge not to.
Irakli Kobakhidze’s comments on December 1 set up a showdown with Zurabishvili, a day after she called the newly elected parliament illegitimate and vowed to remain as president. Demonstrations in the capital, Tbilisi, have turned increasingly chaotic and violent.
Georgia has plunged deeper into a political crisis that started in late October, when the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed victory in parliamentary elections. The opposition said the vote was marked by fraud. Western countries have called for an investigation.
Thousands of demonstrators returned to the streets of Tbilisi on November 30 for a third night to protest against the government’s decision to suspend accession talks with the European Union.
In central Tbilisi, police fired tear gas and water cannons at demonstrators, some of whom chanted “traitors” and held photographs of journalists who they say were beaten by police. Demonstrators have erected barricades on Tbilisi’s main avenue.
More than 100 people have been arrested in the last two days, officials said.
Zurabishvili, who has allied herself with pro-European opposition, asserted that parliament does not have the right to choose her successor following the end of her term in December and she vowed to remain in office.
“There is no legitimate parliament, and therefore, an illegitimate parliament cannot elect a new president,” she said on November 30.
Georgian President Calls Parliament ‘Illegitimate’ As U.S. Suspends ‘Strategic Partnership’
“Thus, no inauguration can take place, and my mandate continues until a legitimately elected parliament is formed,” she said
On December 1, Kobakhidze dismissed her pledge, saying she would have to leave the office.
Kobakhidze also dismissed the United States’ announcement that it would suspend its strategic partnership with Georgia. Calling it a “temporary event,” he said his government would talk to the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump when it takes office in January.
Kobakhidze also accused opponents of the halt to EU talks of plotting a revolt, along the lines of Ukraine’s 2014 Euromaidan protests.
Sparked by the president’s decision to spurn closer ties with the EU, months of protests in Kyiv culminated that February in violent street clashes. The president, Viktor Yanukovych, later fled the country.
“Some people want a repeat of that scenario in Georgia,” he said. “But there will be no Maidan in Georgia.”
A State Department spokesman criticized the decision to suspend EU talks, saying it “made Georgia more vulnerable to the Kremlin.”
“The United States condemns the excessive use of force by police against Georgians seeking to exercise their rights to assembly and expression, including their freedom to peacefully protest,” Matthew Miller said in a statement.
U.S. authorities have sought to pressure Georgian officials, imposing sanctions on dozens of government officials whom Washington said had “undermined” democracy and human rights in the country.
The European Union’s new foreign policy chief warned Georgian authorities over violence against demonstrators.
“It is clear that using violence against peaceful protesters is not acceptable, and the Georgian government should respect the will of the Georgian people,” Kaja Kallas told journalists during a trip to Ukraine.
(rferl)