Page 10 - GEORptApr21

2.4 Georgian opposition begins protests to force snap elections
The Georgian opposition has announced a plan for protests, after thousands of its supporters rallied outside the Georgian parliament building in Tbilisi on February 26 to call for new snap parliamentary elections and the release of political prisoners including the United National Movement (UNM) leader Nika Melia.
“We will not leave until our demands are met,” a protester who traveled 300 kilometres from the town of Zugdidi to participate in the rally told Radio Free Europe.
Over the weekend, opposition and civil rights activists set up nearly a dozen tents in front of the parliament building.
Activists spent the night in the tents following street demonstrations in Tbilisi on February 26 to protest a police raid on the headquarters of an opposition party and the arrest of its leader, who is currently under pre-trial police custody after prosecutors charged him with leading violence against parliament building on June 20, 2019.
Khatia Dekanoidze, a member of the UNM, outlined the plan at the rally in front of the parliament.
Picketing the parliament building will start on March 2 and picketing the government’s building will start on Friday, March 5.
“We are planning a rally in front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on March 9 because this agency arrests activists, violates human rights and does not understand that their main purpose is to serve the country and not Bidzina Ivanishvili,” announced Dekanoidze.
On March 11, opposition scheduled a rally in front of the Tbilisi court that it called the main symbol of the regime.
"On March 13, at the end of these rallies, we will meet again at the parliament. Of course, this will be another very important rally for freedom," Dekanoidze said.
European Council President Charles Michel has mandated Christian Danielsson to lead a EU-backed mediation effort in Georgia. The move is a follow-up to the relaunch of the political dialogue between the ruling Georgian Dream party and opposition parties that occurred during Michel’s visit to Tbilisi on March 1.
2.5 PM’s resignation is a make-or-break moment for Georgia
Georgia has just had its fifth change of prime minister since Georgian Dream (GD) came to power in 2012. Irakli Garibashvili, who previously held the position from 2013 to 2015, is back.
Since Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of GD and its first PM, resigned in November 2013, it has been widely presumed that he continues to be the principal decision-maker behind the scenes, prime ministers being expendable
10 GEORGIA Country Report April 2021 www.intellinews.com