In Tbilisi, the mobilization against the power remains strong, despite the increasing brutality of the police forces. Gathered for a week in front of Parliament, thousands of demonstrators are protesting against the government decision to postpone negotiations for accession to the European Union until 2028. Faced with them, the president of Georgia, Salomé Zourabichvili, refuses to end her mandate, which expires in mid-December.
In the Georgian system, it is Parliament that elects the next president. But the recent legislative elections were rigged, denounces this convinced pro-European. “As long as we do not have a legitimate Parliament, there cannot be a legitimate president,” she told L’Express. She asks for a new vote.
L’Express: Repression is increasing, but the movement is not weakening…
Salomé Zourabichvili: No. It is totally spontaneous, spreads to all the cities of the country and is not organized by political parties. There has never been such a civil disobedience movement in the country.
How did the protest grow?
Obviously, the legislative elections of October 26 were the subject of massive and systematic fraud, according to a very sophisticated system prepared well in advance which bears the signature of the Russian services. This electoral hybrid war constitutes a new strategy for Russia, which also deployed it in Moldova, but the vote of the diaspora made it possible to thwart it. Unfortunately this was not the case with us. Due to electoral procedures put in place ahead of the vote, a million Georgians living abroad were unable to vote.
Then, the authorities increased the provocations. As a candidate for the next presidency, he highlighted the man behind the foreign influence law, which sparked a massive wave of protests last year and this spring. And on November 28, he announced the postponement of the European Union accession process to 2028. A declaration of war.
Why couldn’t we anticipate these cheats, which were predictable?
We thought that the mobilization of the population would be sufficient to compensate for the fraud. But no one, it’s true, anticipated its massive and systematic nature. We were taken by surprise, so much so that the announcement of the results was followed by a sort of collective depression among the population, as they were waiting for a political change in the country.
What role plays Bidzina Ivanishvili, the oligarch close to the ruling Georgian Dream party, known to be close to the Kremlin?
He is the central man, the one who makes all the decisions. The real question, on which we lack visibility, is whether he takes them to maintain his position at the top of power or whether they are dictated to him by our “neighbor to the north” [NDLR : Vladimir Poutine].
Some fear that these demonstrations could trigger Russian intervention? What do you answer them?
This threat is regularly brandished by propaganda, which uses fear to lead the population to accept a situation which will perhaps be worse! Of course, no one can say that there is no risk of Russian military intervention. Georgia has suffered enough attacks from Russia, whether Imperial, Soviet or contemporary, to never say never! However, this does not seem to be the strategy chosen by Moscow, which seems to prefer this hybrid offensive. But whatever the modus operandi, it will never restrain the Georgians. If we were afraid, we would never have chosen the path of European integration. Today, the Georgian people are demanding new elections and they want their European destiny restored. I will add one important thing: there are not, contrary to what the propaganda claims, two Georgias that are opposed to each other. Today, 80% of the population wants European integration, while the remaining 20% are close to power for reasons of personal interest, but are not necessarily in favor of returning to the Russian fold.
Is Europe helping you enough to fight this hybrid war?
The Georgians know the methods of disinformation well, they have suffered Soviet propaganda for seventy years… But it is true that we have few means to defend ourselves. We need powerful means. I would nevertheless advise European countries to put themselves in battle order to resist this hybrid war that Russia is so fond of – because it costs much less than a conventional conflict and is very effective…
While the Europeans interrupted Georgia’s accession process last summer, the Americans have just suspended their strategic partnership. Are these measures sufficient?
No. The population also expects individual sanctions against all those who organized – and distorted – the elections and those who participated in the repressions. And they are very important. Because otherwise, the message addressed to Georgians would be: we punish the country, but we do not punish those responsible. Like Bidzina Ivanichvili, who is still not subject to sanctions.
And who still has French nationality.
Yes, but it’s not my place to comment on it. Ask the French authorities…
How do you see the continuation of the conflict?
Faced with a power that is entrenched in itself and has a repressive tool, Georgian society is seeking new elections, with the help of the Europeans. Then, I appealed to the Constitutional Court, which has still not delivered its opinion. If it recognizes the violations of the Constitution and cancels the vote, we will return to the status quo ante with the previous Parliament and government. After a brief transition period, we will then hold new elections. This is what we are fiercely demanding and this is what our European partners must support. If the Constitutional Court does not comply with these requests, the population will then be able to request early elections. This will take a much more radical character, no one wants to go that far.
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