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The Georgian riot police have made their way clear: on Monday night, they dispersed several hundred anti-government protesters who had been standing in front of the parliament in Tbilisi since last week to protest against the rejection of an electoral reform promised by the government and ask for early elections.
The whole area in front of Parliament was completely emptied of protesters. After a few warnings, the riot police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the protesters.
Hundreds of people were blocking access to the building and the surrounding streets, including the main artery of the capital, Rustaveli Avenue, where tents had been planted.
Protesters were eventually pushed back to Freedom Square, two blocks from Parliament.
→ See also: Georgia: 20000 protesters in front of Parliament, an unprecedented move
At the origin of this new movement: the rejection last week by the Georgian Dream, the party in power, of a reform of the electoral system. It was promised to them last summer by the leader of the majority group, the oligarch Bidzina Ivanichvili, to put an end to a series of demonstrations.
After this dispersal by the police, the former speaker of Parliament, Nino Burjanadze, denounces an attempt to intimidate the opposition and believes that it is a " political suicide " for power.
The latter does not seem to yield: the mayor of Tbilisi, who is also secretary general of the Georgian Dream, former footballer Kakha Kaladze, accuses the opposition of " destabilizing the political process with destructive and low-end staging ".