The Daily Beat: 5 February
Despite Ivanishvili’s police and judiciary continuing to arrest, fine, and imprison people for various charges, the protests continue. On the 70th consecutive day of pro-EU rallies, protesters gathered near the Public Broadcaster, demanding the resignation of the Board Chairman Vasil Maghlaperidze and General Director Tinatin Berdzenishvili. Later protesters marched toward Rustaveli Avenue, again blocking the traffic, despite attempts by police to prevent them. For more detailed updates on ongoing resistance, tap our live blog.
The ruling GD party announced further repressive laws to curb civil society and media. According to GD parliamentary leader Mamuka Mdinaradze, the party plans to introduce a “media law,” which he claimed would be based on the British model and adopt an “exact copy” of the US FARA. In place of Foreign Agents Law, “we will initiate an exact copy of today’s edition of the American FARA,” Mdinaradze said at a briefing. Tap our piece to read more on the announced draconian legislative package.
On February 5, following a meeting with EU countries ambassadors and four opposition political forces, President Salome Zurabishvili declared that as GD doubles down on repression and as it terminated the mandates of 49 opposition MPs the “political life in Georgia has ended” and urged international pressure on the GD government to call new elections.
The GD Parliament terminated the mandates of 49 opposition MPs from three political forces upon their formal request to the GD Parliament, following the disputed October parliamentary elections, which they assess as rigged. Immediately following the decision, three MPs from the GD announced their “departure” from the party, staging the formation of a “new opposition parliamentary group” based on the parliamentary group“European Socialists.”
Opposition leaders from all three political forces warn that the mandate termination could lead to a new wave of repression by the GD government, pledging to continue resistance despite all the odds. Only Gakharia for Georgia, which secured 12 seats in the October parliamentary elections, has not yet submitted a formal request for mandate termination to the GD parliament. However, Gakharia’s party refuses to participate in the legislative process.
GD Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze visited Kazakhstan, where he held talks with his Kazakh counterpart, Olzhas Bektenov, on a range of issues, with a focus on strengthening economic ties. According to a press release from the GD government, the sides also discussed the development of the Middle Corridor to attract additional cargo. As part of the visit, Kobakhidze is also scheduled to meet with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Three Thai women have been rescued from a human trafficking operation in Georgia where they were forced to undergo illegal egg harvesting procedures as reported by Thailand’s online newspaper The Nation. The women were reportedly among around 100 Thai nationals held against their will allegedly by the criminal Chinese gang operating out of a “four-house compound” in Georgia.
Journalist Vasil Ivanov-Chikovani announced that he had been suspended on February 4 from presenting the 18:00 news program “Moambe” on the Georgian Public Broadcaster’s (GPB). The decision was officially attributed by the management of the GPB to preventing a “tense and unhealthy working environment.” Ivanov-Chikovani has been one of the most vocal critics of the Chair of GPB Board Vasil Maghlaperidze’s alleged influence over the broadcaster’s editorial independence.