Thousands protest in Georgia ahead of political showdown

Thousands of Georgian protesters have formed a human chain in the capital Tbilisi ahead of a political showdown as the new president prepares to be sworn in.

The inauguration of a new president, former Manchester City footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili, considered an ally of the ruling Georgian Dream party, is scheduled for Sunday.

But the current head of state, Salomé Zourabichvili, refuses to resign and describes her election as illegitimate.

Georgian Dream, which has been in power for 12 years, won the parliamentary election in October, but the victory was marred by allegations of fraud and there have been protests ever since.

The four main opposition groups rejected Kavelashvili and boycotted Parliament.

It is not yet clear how the confrontation will be resolved.

Demonstrators, waving Georgian and EU flags, formed a human chain that stretched for kilometers on Saturday.

“I’m on the street with my whole family trying to somehow tear this little country out of the clutches of the Russian empire,” one protester told the Associated Press.

Georgian Dream has become increasingly authoritarian in recent years, passing Russian-style laws targeting the media and non-governmental groups that receive foreign funding, and the LGBT community.

He refused to join Western sanctions against Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and called the West the “global war party,” mocking its stated goal of joining the EU and NATO.

An overwhelming majority of Georgians support the country’s path to the EU and it is part of the constitution.

But in November, the country’s ruling party said the government would not start EU accession talks until 2028.

The announcement sparked days of protests, and riot police used tear gas and water cannon against protesters, who counterattacked by throwing fireworks and rocks.

United States this week sanctions imposed about former Georgian Prime Minister and billionaire founder of Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Georgia is a parliamentary democracy in which the president is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of parliament.

The current president, Zourabichvili, has denounced Kavelashvili’s election – which was held under an electoral college system in which he was the only candidate – as a farce.

When Zourabichvili became president in 2018, he was backed by Georgian Dream, but has since condemned his disputed election victory in late October as a “Russian special operation” and backed nightly pro-EU protests outside parliament.

Zourabichvili has promised not to resign on Sunday.

The government says that if he refuses to leave office he will be committing a crime.