Amid continuous protests, Georgia PM rules out fresh parliamentary elections after contested vote

Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Sunday (December 1) flat out refused to hold fresh parliamentary elections.

His comments come at a time when Georgia is reeling through a post-election crisis that has seen his legitimacy questioned both at home and internationally.

In the contested October elections this year, the Georgian Dream party, which had nominated Kobakhidze to his current post, had claimed victory.

President refuses from stepping out

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, the country’s opposition, and the European Parliament have all asked that a new vote be held. There have been allegations of Russian interference in the polls.

When asked by journalists whether the ruling Georgian Dream party would agree to hold a new vote, Kobakhidze said, “Of course not”.

Kobakhidze has also said that Zourabichvili would have to leave the President’s office at the end of her term this month.

Zourabichvili, a critic of the Georgian Dream party, had said on Saturday (November 30) that she would stay in office because the new parliament was illegitimate and had no authority to name her successor.

Ongoing protests in Georgia

Meanwhile, there have been protests in Georgia for three consecutive days now.

The ruling Georgian Dream party’s disputed victory in the parliamentary election was widely seen as a referendum on the country’s aspirations to join the European Union.

Following the elections, the government decided to suspend accession talks with the EU. It has sparked major demonstrations and led to an opposition boycott of the parliament. The decision came hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution that condemned last month’s vote as neither free nor fair.

Tens of thousands of people have shown up for the protests, and clashes with police have become rampant.

With inputs from agencies