Protests in Tbilisi despite concessions | Currently Europe | '
Thousands of people took part in the fifth protest day in a row, again in demonstrations outside the parliament in Tbilisi. Although many of the protesters welcomed the announcement of electoral reform, they announced a continuation of the protests until their other demands were met. The protest movement and the leading opposition party United National Movement called for the resignation of Interior Minister Georgi Gacharia, who was responsible for the violence against demonstrators last Thursday and the release of the demonstrators arrested last week. During the police use with tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters there had been more than 200 injured and about 300 arrests.
Enemy picture Russia
The demonstrators are causing another concern. They fear a growing influence of their big neighbor Russia on their small country in the South Caucasus. The fears were fueled by the speech of a Russian deputy in parliament in Tbilisi on Thursday. He had spoken during an international session from the seat of the President of Parliament. At the event on religious and political issues, the Duma deputies had taken over the chairmanship. Many Georgians rated this as an affront. The speech was then also the trigger for the wave of protest.
New election system is coming sooner than planned
The ruling party Georgian Dream entered into a demand of the protesters with the change of the right to vote. According to this, the parliamentary seats are to be allocated according to proportional representation, as the party announced, as early as next year's election. Originally, only from 2024 should be chosen according to the new provisions. So far, in the South Caucasus republic was a complicated electoral system, which helped from the point of view of the demonstrators the powerful oligarchs in the country to secure their influence.
Joy in the demonstrators about the stage victory: The electoral system is changed quickly
The relationship between Georgia and its big neighbor Russia is shattered. In a short war in 2008, the South Caucasus republic lost its breakaway territories Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Despite international criticism, Russia recognizes both regions as independent states.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had curtailed air traffic to the neighboring massif in response to the protests in Georgia. He criticized the demonstrations as an "anti-Russian provocation".
The Foreign Office in Berlin advised special caution for Germans staying in Tbilisi. People should be avoided and follow the instructions of the local security authorities.
qu / kle (afp, dpa)
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