Georgia: Presidential Elections and Escalating Violence

Pro apo kundër Europës? Gara elektorale në zgjedhjet presidenciale (14.12.2024) në Gjeorgji po shoqërohet edhe me diskursin e ashpër për orientimin politik të vendit në të ardhmen. Gjendja po përshkallëzohet.

2024-12-14 09:08:32, Kosova & Bota CNA

On December 14, the presidential elections are held in Georgia, but the voting is not normal at all. The atmosphere in the country is tense. Every day there are mass protests across the country, which the authorities are countering with violence.

The background of the protests is related to the confrontation between the opposition and the ruling party "Georgian Dream". The confrontation started with the parliamentary elections in October (2024) and escalated when the government recently announced the suspension of the European integration process.

Head of state with limited powers

A constitutional amendment exacerbated the crisis, In 2017 the parliament with a majority of votes of the "Georgian Dream" party approved the reforms. These changed the procedure for electing the president and turned the country into a parliamentary republic, in which the president has limited powers.

The presidential elections in 2018 were the last in which the head of state was elected directly by the people. The president of the country was then elected Salome Surabishvili, whose candidacy was supported by the ruling party. But later the relations between the pro-Russian party "Georgian Dream" and the pro-European president Surabishvili worsened.

Georgia: Presidential Elections and Escalating Violence

The current presidential elections take place according to a new procedure. For the first time, the president is elected by an electoral college consisting of 300 people. The college includes 150 deputies of the new parliament and 150 delegates from the country's regions. Since the ruling party "Georgian Dream" has the majority in parliament and the greatest influence in the regions, there is no chance of victory for an opposition candidate.

The opposition boycotts the elections

As the opposition boycotts the new parliament and presidential elections, only the Georgian Dream party has put forward a presidential candidate. According to the results of the parliamentary elections in October, the ruling party won 89 out of 150 parliamentary mandates.

The elections are under the shadow of numerous irregularities, which led the EU to request a re-vote. The opposition is talking about massive electoral fraud, so it has boycotted the parliament.

President Salome Surabishvili does not know the results of the elections and emphasizes that now she is the only legitimate state institution of Georgia. She will not give up her post until there are new parliamentary elections.

Georgian political scientist Gela Vasadze thinks that the presidential elections are not held according to the law. "How can elections be held when the parliament is illegitimate?" he asks. According to his assessment, there were massive frauds in the elections, Georgian society does not recognize them.

"The most important thing is that the constitution was violated when the first session of the parliament was held without the call from the head of state. And this happened at a time when the president and a number of opposition parties filed a lawsuit in the Constitutional Court", he says in the interview for DW.

Georgia: Presidential Elections and Escalating Violence

The government's candidate for the post of president

"Georgian Dream" has chosen its presidential candidate Miheil Kavelashvili, a former professional soccer player and member of parliament from the pro-government People's Power party. Representatives of Georgian civil society consider him the author of the "law on foreign influence".

This caused protests in the country and led to the rapid deterioration of Georgia's relations with Western countries. A part of Georgian society criticizes Kavelashvili's candidacy also for the reason that he does not have a higher education.

Kavelashvili accuses the opposition of being "controlled by the deputies of the US Congress", who want to provoke an alleged "revolution" in Georgia and reports like in Ukraine.

Political scientist Gela Vasadze thinks that Kavelashvili cannot be considered as elected, but only as an "appointed president". According to Vasadze, it is impossible to hold elections in Georgia under the current conditions.

Georgia: Presidential Elections and Escalating Violence

Georgia before further protests

Meanwhile, the "Dream of Georgia" party has warned the president Salome Surabishvili, that by December 29 she must leave the government palace in Tbilisi. On this day, the inauguration ceremony of the new president will take place.

The government seems to fear new protests. "Organizers of criminal actions want to fail the presidential elections on December 14 in Georgia and want to prevent the election of the president by any means", says a statement (10.12.2024) of the state security service.

The service claims that the perpetrators likely want to "escalate the situation as much as possible" until it leads to "two to three victims". This is intended, according to the state security service, for the government to be accused of "murder" in order to "incite even more the spirit of protest in the country"./ DW