Salome Zurabishvili
“We need to prepare for the elections. This is not only for our alliance, but for the whole society. Society must prepare because this will be a really decisive moment, and we don’t know when [the elections] will take place. The regime may believe that the elections will take place in 2028, as Kobakhidze told us, but no one can rule out that they may take place earlier,” Zurabishvili said, quoted by NewsGeorgia.
Holding new parliamentary elections remains a central demand of the opposition, which has not recognized the Georgian Dream’s victory in October 2024. The day before, the opposition alliance presented six demands, the fulfillment of which they claim will ensure a free and fair vote. Thus, they propose to allow emigrants abroad to participate in the elections, to change the rules for staffing election commissions, to strengthen voter inspections, and to entrust special judicial panels to consider electoral disputes.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze categorically rejected the opposition’s proposals, saying that the next parliamentary elections in the country will be held according to the current legislation and within the established deadlines.
“Keep the suspension.”
The other day Salome Zurabishvili attended the discussion of a resolution on Georgia in the French National Assembly. The French parliament adopted the document with 68 votes against 28.
As Georgia Online writes, the document condemns the actions of the Georgian government for “authoritarian tendencies, restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly” as well as “excessive” use of force against protesters. The resolution calls on the EU to maintain the suspension of Georgia’s accession process until political conditions are met.
Salome Zurabishvili, Georgia’s fifth president, left office in December 2024 after the end of her presidential mandate. Her departure was accompanied by a political crisis. Zurabishvili did not recognize the legitimacy of the new political course and, after the end of her mandate, effectively switched to the role of an opposition political leader.
