Zurabishvili Threatens "Overthrow of the Regime" if New Elections Are Not Held

RBC: Georgia may schedule new elections before December 29, or "the regime will be overthrown," President Salome Zurabishvili warned. She deems the parliament, dominated by Georgian Dream members, "illegitimate." The Prime Minister threatened her with criminal charges.

If the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition fail to reach a compromise on holding new parliamentary elections, Georgia faces an "overthrow of the regime," President Salome Zurabishvili stated in a video address, as reported by Interpressnews.

"The crisis has reached a stage where we have no other choice. We have tried and tested every possible legal means to contain this crisis before it reached such proportions. These included judicial processes, but we failed to achieve results due to the dire state of our courts," she said.

According to Zurabishvili, the Constitutional Court's failure to accept and review the claim concerning Georgian Dream’s victory has "created a new unconstitutional situation." "An illegitimate parliament should not be convened without me or without a response from the Constitutional Court," the Georgian President noted.

She added that a claim had also been filed with the European Court of Human Rights, but "it will not provide an answer today or tomorrow." "There is no lawful or constitutional path left. The only option is to hold new elections, and this is the demand of the people, my demand, and the demand of political parties," said the head of state.

Zurabishvili believes there are two solutions to the current situation: either hold new elections by December 29 to "restore voters' trust," or face "the overthrow of the current regime." "This regime is collapsing on its own, and no one is involved in this—it is your fault, those in power, because you failed to act in time and understand how to manage this country," she concluded.

Parliamentary elections in Georgia were held on October 26. Georgian Dream, which has been in power since 2012, won with 53.92%. Opposition coalitions also surpassed the 5% threshold but refused to recognize the election results. Zurabishvili declared the new parliament "illegitimate" and refused to relinquish her authority until new elections are held. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze threatened her with criminal charges if she did not step down by the end of her term on December 19. Amidst this, mass protests continue in the republic.

Mikheil Kavelashvili was elected as Georgia's new president, with his inauguration scheduled for December 29.