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High voltage day in Georgia, Monday, November 25th. The opposition calls on its supporters to mobilize massively in front of the walls of Parliament to demand the adoption of an electoral reform rejected by the latter. The last rally involved the intervention of police forces and the arrest of several dozen activists.
The opposition hopes to mobilize several tens of thousands of people in order to increase pressure on the government and on the Georgian Dream Party, which has been in power since 2012. The anger of the opposition is sparked by rejection - ten days ago - a reform of the voting system in preparation for the upcoming elections. This reform, which is supposed to introduce proportionality in the electoral system, was promised by the authorities to end several weeks of mobilization in June 2019.
Treason
This promise having been betrayed by the party in power , the opposition, which has united in a common front, now demands the resignation of the government and the organization of early elections. This mobilization, which focuses on the issue of electoral reform, but other issues are underlying, obviously starting with the role played behind the scenes, by the oligarch Bidzina Ivanichvili, the leader of the ruling party that is also the richest man in the country.
The opposition accuses him of wanting to keep power at all costs, and also accuses him of being too conciliatory towards Russia more than ten years after the lightning war between the two countries. It was also the visit of Russian deputies last June that provoked the first demonstrations of the opposition.
Opponents mobilized
In front of the Parliament, a dozen tents were erected along the metal barriers. Among the opponents, here is Guena, the sixties grizzled. High-pitched and dark-eyed, this Tbilisi resident says he is angry at the rejection of electoral reform. And accuses the Georgian Dream party of wanting to cling to power: " The people will not accept it. This is a great offense for the Georgians and we are going to mobilize a lot of people to force this government, either to ratify the reform or to leave power. What we are asking for is fairer elections, and a coalition government that will not dare to trample the promises made to the people. "
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