Salome Zurabishvili: “We Should not Allow Another 1921 to Happen”
President Salome Zurabishvili said Georgians should not allow another 1921 to happen, referring to the occupation of Georgia by the communist Russia. She was speaking at a rally on Rustaveli Avenue, where she joined demonstrators, on the 90th day of pro-democracy and pro-EU protests. The today’s protest took on additional significance, as Georgia marked the 104th anniversary of the Russian invasion that led to the fall of the Georgian Republic on 25 February 1921 and its sovietization.
Salome Zurabishvili recalled the events of 104 years ago when the Russian Red Army invaded and took Tbilisi after several days of heavy fighting.
She drew a parallel with Russian disinformation then and now, as it harbors aggressive intentions and wages war while pretending to have peaceful motives.
She said: “We are standing here… so that 1921 does not repeat itself.” “We should not let the Russian occupation to happen,” she added.
She also said that the resistance of those fighting the Red Army in 1921 is a great inspiration and hope for modern Georgians and the fallen defenders of Georgia will never be forgotten.
She stated that Georgia will not relinquish its future, independence and European path.
The example of the fallen on February 25, 2021 is alive through the people who stand here, she told the protesters. She then hit out at the GD authorities, saying they had tried everything – water cannons, rubber bullets, violence, insults, “but everyone is still standing,” she said, “Mzia Amaghlobeli is standing, Temur Katamadze is standing, all the prisoners are standing and will continue to stand until we are all standing here!”
“Despite the war that Russia waged, despite the occupation, abductions, economic pressure, we did not relinquish our European path, independence and freedom,” she said, adding: “And we won’t relinquish them to this internal Russian regime.”
Salome Zurabishvili then said that the Georgian Dream “is not able to manage the country”, citing the dire situation in Western Georgia heavily hit with snowstorm, where GD authorities have been criticized for failing to provide adequate emergency help. Zurabishvili criticized the government for failing to employ the state institutions to help people in the disaster area and instead using law-enforcers against the demonstrators. “But when people need to be helped and protected, they are not there, because this is not government, but the regime,” said Zurbishvili.
She said: “This Russian regime turned into the repression machine” citing the repressive legislation and actions that the GD authorities have been resorting to in recent months.
Noting that citizens often ask about the plan of action for the future, she reiterated that the only plan is new elections, stressing that this is the only peaceful solution to the deep political crisis and noting that this is what more and more of Georgia’s partners are calling for.
She expressed confidence that the new elections will be called, saying “there is no question about this.”
She then promised to present the document outlining the modalities for new elections in the coming days and said that another important task would be to prepare “the whole army of observers” and the new election commission members.
Salome Zurabishvili also noted that it would be important “to mobilize all possible help from our partners” to prevent the forms of election rigging that had been used. “All of us together should overcome this fraud, prevail over it,” she said.
Finally, she said, there should be more coordination between political parties, and new political forces should participate in the country’s political life.
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This post is also available in: Русский (Russian)