Protesters in Georgia's capital set up tent camp, demand new elections

tbilisi, georgia — 

Demonstrators successful Georgia's superior person acceptable up tents connected a cardinal thoroughfare and vowed Monday to enactment astir the timepiece to request caller parliamentary elections successful the country.

The October 26 predetermination kept the governing Georgian Dream enactment successful power, but opponents accidental the ballot was rigged with Russia's assistance. Many Georgians viewed the predetermination arsenic a referendum connected the country's effort to articulation the European Union. Several ample protests person been held since then.

President Salome Zourabichvili, who has rejected the authoritative results, declared connected Monday that she would entreaty the ballot results to the Constitutional Court. Zourabichvili, who holds a mostly ceremonial position, has said Georgia has fallen unfortunate to unit from Moscow against joining the EU.

Critics person accused Georgian Dream, established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his luck successful Russia, of becoming progressively authoritarian and tilted toward Moscow. The enactment precocious pushed done laws akin to those utilized by the Kremlin to ace down connected state of code and LGBTQ+ rights.

On Sunday, demonstrators closed an avenue starring into the halfway of Tbilisi. Nika Melia, person of Coalition for Change, 1 of the absorption groups, voiced anticipation that the protests astir the timepiece volition people "the opening of the intense, beardown protestation question that volition decorativeness with the autumn of Ivanishvili's regime."

The EU suspended Georgia's rank exertion process indefinitely successful June aft the country's parliament passed a instrumentality requiring organizations that person much than 20% of their backing from overseas to registry arsenic "pursuing the involvement of a overseas power," akin to a Russian instrumentality utilized to discredit organizations captious of the government.

The Central Election Commission said Georgian Dream won astir 54% of the ballot successful October. Its leaders person rejected absorption claims of ballot fraud. European predetermination observers said the predetermination took spot successful a "divisive" ambiance marked by instances of bribery, treble voting and carnal violence.