Where do we come from?
Article author: Zanda Gedenidze
The recent history of Georgian protests holds many interesting and inspiring stories. Amidst the intense events, memory often forgets the small and big victories we achieved along the way.
Let's remember what the people fighting for a European future had to go through and what achievements they had on this difficult path.
Chapter I: 2023
March 6, 2023
The Georgian parliament has begun discussing a draft law on foreign agents, sparking protests. The proposed bill would designate non-governmental organizations and independent media outlets that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad as agents of foreign influence.
Protests lasted for several days, and police in Tbilisi used water cannon and tear gas to disperse them.
Protests lasted for several days, and police in Tbilisi used water cannon and tear gas to disperse them.
March 10, 2023
35 MPs voted "against" the second reading of the draft law "On Transparency of Foreign Influence". All of them were opposition members. Members of the parliamentary majority abstained from participating in the vote.
In the end, the bill failed. The will of the Georgian people prevailed, and the “Russian law” initiated by the “Georgian Dream” failed.
In the end, the bill failed. The will of the Georgian people prevailed, and the “Russian law” initiated by the “Georgian Dream” failed.
December 14, 2023
The European Council has granted Georgia the status of candidate country for EU membership. The Georgian Dream government considered the status to be the “crowning achievement of successful governance,” achieved “with the people and for the people.”
The Prime Minister also paid special thanks to the party's founder and former Prime Minister - billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.
The opposition stated that this victory was snatched from the "dream" by the people, and now the government is celebrating a victory that it previously called "a straw price" and opposed in every way.
President Zurabishvili, who did not allow the "Dream" party to take the stage at the ceremony, considers the status to be a merit of the Georgian people. The contribution of the people was especially highlighted by the EU Ambassador during his speech at Freedom Square.
Chapter II: 2024 and the "Russian Law"
Since 2024, the Georgian Dream has been launching strong attacks and unfriendly rhetoric against Europe. A new terminology has emerged - the “Global War Party.” This is considered a group that is shaping the new world order and has a decisive influence on senior officials in the European Union and the United States.
Georgian Dream accuses the “Global War Party” of prolonging the Russia-Ukraine war and attempting to spread it to other countries, attempting to assassinate state leaders, organizing revolutions around the world, and attempting to overthrow the Georgian Dream government. According to Irakli Kobakhidze, there is a “Global War Party” that aims to declare martial law in Georgia and “Ukrainize” it.
April 3, 2024
On April 3, the public was informed by Georgian Dream MP Mamuka Mdinaradze that the ruling team would reintroduce the Russian law.
According to Mdinaradze, the content of the draft law remained the same, only its title changed. Accordingly, instead of the term “agent of foreign influence,” the term “organization carrying out the interests of a foreign power” will be used. The ruling party’s decision was met with sharp criticism from civil society, the opposition, and the country’s international partners.
According to Mdinaradze, the content of the draft law remained the same, only its title changed. Accordingly, instead of the term “agent of foreign influence,” the term “organization carrying out the interests of a foreign power” will be used. The ruling party’s decision was met with sharp criticism from civil society, the opposition, and the country’s international partners.
April 9, 2024
A Freedom March was held in Tbilisi against the Russian law. Citizens taking to the streets chanted: Yes to Europe, no to Russian law. "This is a battle with several stages. There will be many more stages and we will have to come together many more times. We are ready for this, we are planning for this, we will definitely win this battle!", they said.
April 15, 2024
The Legal Affairs Committee is considering the draft law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” initiated by the Georgian Dream in its first hearing. Despite restrictions on access to some media in parliament, the chairman of the committee, Anri Okhanashvili, claims that everyone was given the opportunity to attend as much as possible.
In addition, he does not allow opposition MPs, who call the law Russian, to use the microphone. In parallel with the discussion, a protest rally of media representatives was taking place near the parliament.
April 12, 2024
Judge Zviad Sharadze announced the verdict in the case of 22-year-old Lazare Grigoriadis, a participant in the March 7-9, 2023 protests, at the Tbilisi City Court. After a year-long trial, he sentenced Grigoriadis to 9 years in prison. That same evening, Salome Zurabishvili announced that she would pardon Lazare.
In addition, he does not allow opposition MPs, who call the law Russian, to use the microphone. In parallel with the discussion, a protest rally of media representatives was taking place near the parliament.
April 9, 2024
A Freedom March was held in Tbilisi against the Russian law. Citizens taking to the streets chanted: Yes to Europe, no to Russian law. "This is a battle with several stages. There will be many more stages and we will have to come together many more times. We are ready for this, we are planning for this, we will definitely win this battle!", they said.
April 12, 2024
Judge Zviad Sharadze announced the verdict in the case of 22-year-old Lazare Grigoriadis, a participant in the March 7-9, 2023 protests, at the Tbilisi City Court. After a year-long trial, he sentenced Grigoriadis to 9 years in prison. That same evening, Salome Zurabishvili announced that she would pardon Lazare.
April 15, 2024
The Legal Affairs Committee is considering the draft law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” initiated by the Georgian Dream in its first hearing. Despite restrictions on access to some media in parliament, the chairman of the committee, Anri Okhanashvili, claims that everyone was given the opportunity to attend as much as possible.
In addition, he does not allow opposition MPs, who call the law Russian, to use the microphone. In parallel with the discussion, a protest rally of media representatives was taking place near the parliament.
April 17, 2024
The Russian law was adopted by the parliament in the first reading. The bill was supported by 83 deputies. 83 deputies passed the registration. There was no opposition in the hall. There was noise during political speeches at the plenary session. Opposition deputies clapped their hands on the table and chanted - "No to the Russian law!", "Traitor!"
Shalva Papuashvili ordered Levan Khabeishvili, Giorgi Vashadze, Tina Bokuchava and Ana Natsvlishvili to leave the session. Other opposition MPs also left the hall. Citizens gathered outside the parliament during the discussion.
April 17, 2024
The Russian law was adopted by the parliament in the first reading. The bill was supported by 83 deputies. 83 deputies passed the registration. There was no opposition in the hall. There was noise during political speeches at the plenary session. Opposition deputies clapped their hands on the table and chanted - "No to the Russian law!", "Traitor!"
Shalva Papuashvili ordered Levan Khabeishvili, Giorgi Vashadze, Tina Bokuchava and Ana Natsvlishvili to leave the session. Other opposition MPs also left the hall. Citizens gathered outside the parliament during the discussion.
Shalva Papuashvili ordered Levan Khabeishvili, Giorgi Vashadze, Tina Bokuchava and Ana Natsvlishvili to leave the session. Other opposition MPs also left the hall. Citizens gathered outside the parliament during the discussion.
April 20, 2024
A march by women and youth was held against the draft law on “foreign agents.” The women’s protest also addressed the recent abolition of mandatory gender quotas for political parties in electoral lists. The protesters held banners with the inscriptions “Women choose Europe,” “No to Russian law,” “Bring back quotas,” and others.
April 22, 2024
The protesters arrived at the Tiflis Palace Hotel, where, according to reports, members of the FSB from the National Institute for the Development of Communications of Russia (NIIRK) were holding a conference on “traditional values.” In protest, the protesters threw eggs at the hotel. They then returned to the parliament.
From the parliament, the protesters headed towards the Georgian Dream office. A large number of police officers were mobilized near the ruling party’s office. The protesters chanted: “No to Russian law,” “Where are we going? To Europe!” “One for all, all for one. There is strength in unity”…
From the parliament, the protesters headed towards the Georgian Dream office. A large number of police officers were mobilized near the ruling party’s office. The protesters chanted: “No to Russian law,” “Where are we going? To Europe!” “One for all, all for one. There is strength in unity”…
April 24, 2024
Tenth day of protests against the “foreign agents” bill. Protesters again blocked Rustaveli Avenue, ignoring a warning issued by the police. Citing a “significant decrease” in the number of people at the rallies and citing Georgian law, the police warned the protesters that their actions would be followed by “legal repercussions.”
Later, the protesters who returned to Rustaveli Avenue near the parliament were joined by Lazare Grigoriadis, who was released from prison immediately after the president pardoned him!
Later, the protesters who returned to Rustaveli Avenue near the parliament were joined by Lazare Grigoriadis, who was released from prison immediately after the president pardoned him!
April 28, 2024
People's March - Thousands of citizens gathered at Republic Square in Tbilisi from 7:00 PM for a mass rally organized by more than 100 non-governmental and media organizations. The national and European anthems were performed.
April 29, 2024
Georgian Dream's protest - "On April 29, in parallel with the "Dream" protest, we will not be represented with any activities on Rustaveli Avenue and its surrounding area," said Lado Machavariani, one of the organizers of the protests against the Russian law, on behalf of youth groups and student movements, at a special briefing.
He said that the goal of the protest was never to confront fellow citizens and no one will be given a chance to provoke in any way. Machavariani noted that youth groups and student movements will continue their peaceful and firm protest.
He said that the goal of the protest was never to confront fellow citizens and no one will be given a chance to provoke in any way. Machavariani noted that youth groups and student movements will continue their peaceful and firm protest.
April 30, 2024
A group called “Daitove” was created on Facebook, which offered to stay those who wanted to come from the region to the rallies against the “agents law”. Later, this group became a symbol of people’s unity and care for each other. Currently, the number of members is 255,000 people.
April 30, 2024
Pro-European rally dispersal - riot police without identifying badges attempted to abduct individual protesters and attacked protesters several times throughout the evening using water cannons, pepper spray and tear gas. This was followed by a special operation conducted by riot police on Rustaveli Avenue and the expulsion of protesters from the avenue.
May 1, 2024
The bill was adopted at the second reading, one hour before the end of the plenary session, at approximately 20:00, as the deputies of the parliamentary majority refrained from speeches and only the Georgian Dream deputy Anri Okhanashvili made the final speech. At approximately 22:10, riot police began using pepper spray, tear gas, and water cannon against the demonstrators.
Georgian immigrants are holding parallel protests in front of the Georgian Consulate in Israel and the Georgian Embassy in Brussels. A large-scale protest was also held in Batumi. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen issued a statement – “I am following the situation in Georgia with deep concern and condemn the violence on the streets of Tbilisi. The Georgian population wants a European future for their country. Georgia is at a crossroads. It must remain on the path to Europe.”
Georgian immigrants are holding parallel protests in front of the Georgian Consulate in Israel and the Georgian Embassy in Brussels. A large-scale protest was also held in Batumi. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen issued a statement – “I am following the situation in Georgia with deep concern and condemn the violence on the streets of Tbilisi. The Georgian population wants a European future for their country. Georgia is at a crossroads. It must remain on the path to Europe.”
May 2, 2024
Protesters gathered at Heroes' Square and completely blocked the intersection. Those gathered there called on drivers to get out and join them, which some drivers did. At approximately 9:00 p.m., police began using force and pepper spray to disperse the protesters at Heroes' Square.
Other protestors moved from Rustaveli Avenue to Heroes' Square to support the remaining citizens. As the number of people increased significantly, Heroes' Square was soon blocked again.
Other protestors moved from Rustaveli Avenue to Heroes' Square to support the remaining citizens. As the number of people increased significantly, Heroes' Square was soon blocked again.
May 3, 2024
At approximately 01:00 in the morning, an incident occurred in Heroes' Square. Eyewitnesses, including two injured men, said that they were attacked by "provocateurs" who drove into Heroes' Square, got out of their cars and physically assaulted them. On that day, police detained 23 citizens in Heroes' Square and its surrounding area during a demonstration against the "Agents' Law".
May 3, 2024
The protest, this time under the slogan "Hear the true Georgian voice," resumed at the Paragraph Hotel on Freedom Square (owned by Bidzina Ivanishvili's Cartua Bank), where the Asian Development Bank conference was being held.
May 4, 2024
As Easter approaches, protesters gather at the Kashveti Church on Rustaveli Avenue. The protesters traditionally exchanged red eggs and Easter cakes. During Easter, many Georgians travel to their villages and families.
But this year, the protesters who remained in Tbilisi decided to celebrate the holiday together on Rustaveli Avenue. And this is happening against the backdrop of the government media portraying their opponents as infidels and opponents of the church.
May 11, 2024
Europe Day - By 9:00 PM, a huge 200,000-strong crowd of protesters from four locations had united, marching from both banks of the Mtkvari River to Europe Square. In addition, protests organized by the Georgian diaspora were held in Berlin and Strasbourg.
May 14, 2024
The Parliament adopted the bill on "foreign agents" in its third and final reading. At 17:00, the situation around the Parliament became tense, special forces came out of the Parliament, arrested the protest participants and took them to the Parliament yard.
The arrests were allegedly carried out by a unit of notoriously brutal Zviad Kharazishvili. One of the detainees was Davit Katsarava, a leader of the anti-occupation movement “Strength is in Unity,” who regularly visits the occupation line and disseminates information about the situation on the ground. Katsarava was standing calmly on Rustaveli Avenue when, as the footage shows, he was severely beaten by riot police, especially in the head.
The arrests were allegedly carried out by a unit of notoriously brutal Zviad Kharazishvili. One of the detainees was Davit Katsarava, a leader of the anti-occupation movement “Strength is in Unity,” who regularly visits the occupation line and disseminates information about the situation on the ground. Katsarava was standing calmly on Rustaveli Avenue when, as the footage shows, he was severely beaten by riot police, especially in the head.
May 15, 2024
The foreign ministers of Lithuania, Estonia, and Iceland, who were in Georgia, arrived at Rustaveli Avenue and expressed solidarity with the protesters. After their speeches, the Ode to Joy and the Georgian anthem were played.
May 17, 2024
In Tbilisi, near the Kashveti Church, the clergy of the Orthodox Church and, at their request, a part of the population gathered. They celebrated the "Day of Family Sanctity and Respect for Parents." In connection with this day, May 17, 2024, was declared a day off.
The celebration of Family Sanctity Day on May 17 was established by the Patriarch in 2014, a year after the events in Pushkin Square. On May 17, 2013, LGBTQ activists and community members gathered in the square, accompanied by clergy, were confronted and physically assaulted by thousands of people.
The celebration of Family Sanctity Day on May 17 was established by the Patriarch in 2014, a year after the events in Pushkin Square. On May 17, 2013, LGBTQ activists and community members gathered in the square, accompanied by clergy, were confronted and physically assaulted by thousands of people.
May 24, 2024
March for Freedom - Protesters march to the Ministry of Internal Affairs building. Despite the rainy weather, the streets are packed with thousands of people demanding the repeal of the law on foreign agents.
May 26, 2024
Independence Day - Participants of the protest against the law on "foreign agents" marched from Kostava Street in Tbilisi to Vake Park, repeating the route of the march that took place on May 26, 1919, one year after Georgia's declaration of independence.
May 28, 2024
Parliament has overturned the president's veto on the "Foreign Influence Transparency" law. The Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a statement calling on protesters to "allow the deputies and parliamentary staff present in the building to leave the building without hindrance and continue their protest peacefully." The Ministry of Internal Affairs said that "any violation of the law will be immediately prevented by the police."
June 2, 2024
A rally-concert featuring famous Georgian bands and singers was held at Republic Square. In addition to being against the law on “foreign agents” and the campaign of intimidation and terror against citizens, the concert is also a solidarity event aimed at raising funds to support those arrested and convicted during the protests and to pay the fines imposed on them.
Chapter III: Before the Elections
By the summer, it became clear that the fight had to move from the streets to the offices - the parliamentary elections in October were ahead. Civil society actively began pre-election preparations - observation organizations were created and thousands of citizens registered as observers.
Civil society has become even more actively involved in the information war to protect the opposition's voice. Coalition parties have been formed, and almost all opposition parties have signed the "Georgian Charter" initiated by Salome Zurabishvili, a document that represents a roadmap for reforms.
The President proposed to political parties to "agree, agree, and make commitments around the "Georgian Charter" on all issues, the fulfillment of which is necessary not only for European integration, but also for us, for the establishment of democracy and a just state in our country."
Since in these elections we have to decide not who we vote for, but what we vote for, that is why these elections will actually be a public referendum. A referendum in which we have to answer the question: do we want Europe or not? And when we vote for any party that signed the Charter, we are actually voting for the “Georgian Charter” and, i.e., for a European future!”
September 11, 2024
Residents of the village of Shukruti in the Chiatura region continued their protest and hunger strike in front of the parliament in Tbilisi. The residents of Shukruti alleged that the Georgian Manganese Company was mining ore beneath the village's soil, which has deprived the settlement of its main support, causing houses to collapse, soil to sink, plants to become infertile, and wells to dry up.
On October 24, the people of Shukrut decided to move the protest from Tbilisi back to the village.
September 17, 2024
The Georgian Dream party approved a homophobic law that worsened the rights situation of the LGBT community in Georgia and imposed censorship.
October 20
Pre-election rally - “Georgia chooses the European Union”
How was Georgian Dream preparing for the parliamentary elections?
For context, we need to understand a few points:
1. Every 4th employee in Georgia works in a state agency. The number of employees in the public sector is increasing year by year. At the end of 2022, 308,000 people received their salaries from the state budget, in 2023, approximately 70,000 employees were added to this number, which is more than 20% of the country's workforce and more than 24% of the employed.
2. In 2012-2020, the number of socially vulnerable people fluctuated between 400,000 and 500,000. In the last 3 years, this number has increased by 200,000 people and now amounts to 672,000 people, which represents approximately 18% of the population of Georgia.
"To give you an idea of the scale, this latter number is greater than the population of Imereti and Guria combined. If in 2012 approximately 135 million GEL was allocated in this direction, in 2022 the amount transferred by the state to socially vulnerable people exceeded 620 million GEL."
3. High levels of nepotism and corruption, handing over tenders to relatives, hiring directly from the headquarters of the "Georgian Dream", employment for relatives and friends, or arranging state assistance, are commonplace in our country. Especially when it comes to the regions.
The Georgian Dream began preparing for the elections back in 2020, and this is confirmed by the massive increase in the number of civil servants and socially vulnerable people. In conditions where the income of 40% of the country's population depends on the goodwill of one party, it becomes very easy to manipulate these people. Especially considering the forms of intimidation that we will discuss later.
Throughout the entire pre-election period, the Georgian Dream, using violence, threats, intimidation, bribery, as well as state and local government bodies under its control, strictly recorded, changed, and controlled the sympathies of citizens and their choices in favor of the Georgian Dream. This concerned public servants, recipients of social benefits, beneficiaries of various state programs and funding schemes, persons in pre-trial detention or prisons, and their family members.
Changes
✳ On June 28, 2021 , Article 61 of the “Election Code of Georgia” was supplemented with Paragraph 21 , according to which, on polling day, at the polling station, members of the commission appointed by the parties no longer have the right to perform the function of voter registrar.
As a result of this change, the election administration, or rather the Georgian Dream, completely took over the most important function of the precinct election commission - the registrar.
The Georgian Dream also took over the function of the ballot box supervisor, which was previously determined by lot and in most cases went to a member of the opposition party. This function was assigned by law to the deputy chairman of the commission.
✳ Georgian Dream installed video cameras in the vast majority of polling stations. This circumstance had a depressing effect on voters who were vulnerable in one way or another.
✳On August 16, 2024, the Central Election Commission, by its own resolution, changed the rule specified in the Organic Law and moved the drawing of lots (to distribute the functions of commission members) to 7 days before the elections.
With this change, the Georgian Dream gained the opportunity to identify registrars, members of the mobile ballot box inspection commission, and members of the voter flow regulation commission at each polling station one week before the vote.
✳ Article 766, paragraph 1, subparagraph “g” of the Election Code establishes that “the member of the registrar commission shall scan the electronic ID card of a citizen of Georgia through the reader of the voter verification machine.”
Logically, there would be an impression that the registrar should only pass the electronic ID card of a Georgian citizen through the so-called verification device, probably because only the electronic carrier (the so-called “chip”) placed in it can be read.
In reality, the verification device reader was not reading the microcircuit (the so-called “chip”) located in the electronic ID card of a Georgian citizen, but the MRZ located on the back of the card, which is also present in the passport of a Georgian citizen.
Despite this, the Central Election Commission of Georgia included the following rule in Article 6, Paragraph 5 of the Annex to Resolution No. 7/2023:
“If a voter presents a valid non-electronic ID card of a citizen of Georgia or a passport of a citizen of Georgia to the voter registrar, the voter registrar shall search for the voter’s data in the voter verification machine manually.”
Accordingly, the manual entry of data by registrars belonging to the Georgian Dream became the foundation that allowed the ruling party to capture the votes of immigrants through the widely used “election carousels”.
✳ A marker was used instead of a pen to mark the ballot, despite the fact that the commission members had been trained for 2 years and they used a pen during the test vote (the scanner counted it without any problems), and the circle colored with the marker was visible from the other side and violated the secrecy of the vote.
✳ In addition, many immigrant voices were lost.
Immigrants, as well as opposition parties, the non-governmental sector and President Salome Zurabishvili, have been talking for several months about the need to open additional polling stations abroad, but this demand has not been met. The law stipulates that if at least 50 immigrants request it, a polling station must be opened for them. Immigrants requested it, sent official statements, but polling stations were not opened, but were closed.
As a result, voters had to travel 300-400 kilometers to reach their polling station on election day, and many were unable to get there at all. There were often cases when immigrants arriving at the polling station discovered that there had been a mistake and they had been registered in another polling station on the other side of the country.
Chapter IV: Elections
October 26, 2024
In 2024, for the first time in Georgia's history, elections were held using a fully proportional system and electronic systems. The same elections laid the foundation for a second wave of severe political crisis in the country and continued protests, which were based on demands for closer ties with Europe and fair elections.
On election day, media and observers reported numerous violations, including:
• Violation of the secrecy of voting - voters' choices were visible on the back of the ballots due to leaked stains;
• At the 69th precinct in Marneuli, ballots were thrown en masse, and the observer who filmed the footage was physically assaulted. At this precinct, voting was conducted according to the old rules, not using electronic technology. The video shows a person wearing a red badge (presumably, he was present at the precinct with the status of an observer organization) throwing several pieces of paper into the ballot box.
• According to GYLA observers, a representative of the Georgian Dream in Marneuli voted twice. In addition, facts of two ballots being handed out to voters were revealed: in Gldani 13th, Isani 41st, Tsalenjikha 5th, Kutaisi and Poti 13th precincts. Also, in Didube district 27th precinct, a person with the right to be present at the precinct was standing behind the registrars, who was recording the voter's personal data.
• There were several episodes of noisy physical confrontations in Tbilisi, Gldani, at the 60th polling station; there was noise and confrontation at the 51st polling station in Isani; there was tension at the 30th polling station in Isani, Tbilisi; a representative of one of the parties was physically assaulted at the 9th polling station in Isani, Tbilisi; verbal confrontation and attempted physical violence took place at the 84th polling station in Gori; a physical confrontation took place at the 14th polling station in Gori; several physical confrontations took place at the 9th polling station in Zugdidi;
Also, according to reports, an observer was physically injured during one of the incidents that occurred near the 60th polling station in Gldani, Tbilisi; observers at the #11 polling station in Akhmeta Matni were verbally abused and their phones were taken away; according to GYLA, their employee/observer Giorgi Gotsiridze was attacked and physically assaulted by a commission member and an unknown person outside the polling station at the #4 polling station in Marneuli.
Illegal actions committed against media representatives
A CNEWS journalist was physically assaulted near the 2nd polling station in Kutaisi; a TV company operator from TV Pirveli was physically injured near the 16th polling station in the village of Kvemo Khodasheni, Telavi municipality, and his equipment was damaged; an attempt was made to seize the equipment of TV company Mtavari in Kakheti. A journalist from Radio Liberty was found to have been obstructed in his professional activities in Rustavi; journalists from Radio Marneuli, Publica, Formula and TV Pirveli were verbally abused and attempts were made to obstruct their professional activities.
Exit polls
Data at 20:00 - According to an exit poll conducted by Imedi TV, the ruling party Georgian Dream will remain in power for another four years, although surveys conducted for the Main Channel and Formula show opposite results.
Results
According to CEC data, in the 11th convocation parliament, Georgian Dream received 89 mandates out of 150, while four opposition platforms received a total of 61 mandates.
Only the Georgian Dream party agrees with the figures reflected in the summary protocol. The opposition, the non-governmental sector, the president, and part of society consider the October 26 elections to be fraudulent and stolen. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Tbilisi and other major cities to demand a new election.
This opposition created a legitimacy problem for the Georgian Dream parliament at the international level as well. Only Azerbaijan, Venezuela, Turkey, Armenia, Hungary, and China congratulated the party on its victory.
The credibility of the election results was also questioned by the OSCE/ODIHR. When publishing its final report in late December, the head of the observation mission emphasized that the problems reflected in the report had undermined voters' confidence in the election process.
