The Daily Beat: 27 August
President Salome Zurabishvili signed a presidential decree officially setting October 26 as the date for holding parliamentary elections in Georgia. During the briefing, the President stressed the existential importance of the upcoming parliamentary elections, saying that “this choice will determine the fate of the country for many years to come.”
Following Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service’s earlier claim that the U.S. is planning a “Tbilisi Maidan” after the October elections, Sergey Naryshkin, Chief of Russian Foreign Intelligence, said Russia aims to prevent a “color revolution” in Georgia.
On August 26, the Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), that the U.S. plans a “Tbilisi Maidan” after Georgia’s parliamentary elections to prevent the ruling Georgian Dream party from remaining in power. The SVR said it expects Georgian law enforcement to be “provoked,” leading to a “ruthless political and economic response” from the U.S.
Speaking with journalists, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze confirmed that the Georgian Dream plans to ban all political forces that oppose it in the upcoming parliamentary elections because “all of these are one political force – collective United National Movement. They are linked to each other directly, which can be proven legally […] therefore the legal procedure or appeal [against them] would be adequately justified, and it will be proven that the collective National movement is serving criminal objectives.”
In the meantime, in response to the announcements of the Georgian Dream leadership about its plans to ban the opposition parties, Anonymous, an international collective of hackers, threatened a massive cyberattack if the ruling party proceeds with its authoritarian agenda. “We will dismantle the very systems you rely on to oppress your people,” Anonymous addressed GD and Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze.
The United States continues to be “deeply troubled” by the ruling Georgian Dream party’s “increasingly anti-democratic rhetoric and actions,” most recently highlighted by its threat to outlaw the opposition after the elections, said the U.S. State Department Spokesperson, as quoted by DC correspondent Alex Raufoglu. The U.S. also urged the GD government to respect human rights, stop demonizing critics, and reverse course.
The Head of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Razhden Kuprashvili demanded all opposition political parties to submit their financial statements for the first 8 months of the year by August 31, also calling on IRI and NDI to disclose information about the grants they have given to Georgian organizations. Kuprashvili also singled out the new political movement “Freedom Square” and its leader Levan Tsutskiridze, noting that “Freedom Square” was founded by the Eastern European Center for Multiparty Democracy, further accusing this organization of having political goals now and thus being inconsistent with the legislation.
Bidzina Ivanishvili continues to lead the Georgian Dream’s election campaign, for this time, addressing the supporters in the western Georgian town of Ambrolauri in the Racha region. As previously in Mtskheta, he pleaded for a landslide win in the October elections to ban the opposition, pass homophobic legislation, and prepare the ground for the restoration of territorial integrity. In his speeches, Ivanishvili hints at granting Orthodox Christianity constitutional status, recognizing it as the state religion.
