TBILISI, December 9. /TASS/. Another anti-government protest rally has started in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi near the country’s Parliament building, a TASS correspondent reports from the scene.
The protesters have once again gathered on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi, blocking traffic along the street. Their demands are the same - holding new parliamentary elections and the resignation of the current government.
According to the TASS correspondent, there are no police on or around Rustaveli Avenue.
Another wave of protests began in Georgia on November 28. Demonstrations are held every day in front of the parliament building in the center of Tbilisi. They start in the evening and continue until the morning, when riot police disperse the crowd.
The unrest began after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said the ruling party, Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia, had decided against including negotiations on accession to the European Union on its agenda and refused to accept all budget grants from the EU until the end of 2028.
He explained that constant blackmailing by the EU over the accession dialogue, demands for the cancellation of a number of laws adopted by parliament, and calls for sanctions on the Georgian authorities were the reason.
In late October, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili called the most recent parliamentary elections in the country totally rigged and urged the country's residents to immediately march to the parliament building in Tbilisi to protest the results.
Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia on October 26, with the use of electronic ballot boxes for the first time. According to the Central Election Commission, the ruling Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia party received 53.93% of the vote and secured 89 seats in parliament out of 150. Four opposition parties passed the five-percent threshold: Coalition for Change had 11.03% and 19 seats, Unity-National Movement — 10.17% and 16 seats, Strong Georgia — 8.81% and 14 seats, and Gakharia for Georgia — 7.78% and 12 seats.
All opposition parties that have entered parliament refuse to recognize the results of the elections because they believe the Central Election Commission’s data was tampered with.