Protesters wave Georgian and EU flags outside the Georgian parliament. Four out of five Georgians are in favour of EU accession.Protesters wave Georgian and EU flags outside the Georgian parliament. Four out of five Georgians are in favour of EU accession.
In the end, it took just 67 seconds for the new law to be approved after a path through the protest for MPs from the governing party, Georgian Dream, was made by the serried ranks of masked police officers bristling with water cannon and teargas canisters. Brussels has made it crystal-clear that the legislation will be an obstacle to Georgia’s accession to the 27-member state bloc. But with brutal efficiency, the bill continues on its way. That brutality was exemplified by the sight of individual protesters being dragged into the ranks of riot police to be beaten and kicked. An investigation into excessive force by officers has been launched.
But the protesters have seen the change they need in their own families’ outlook, and have to believe it is more widespread.Georgian Dream has governed Georgia for 12 years. It emerged out of disappointment with the administration of Mikheil Saakashvili, who led the country’s 2003 nonviolent Rose Revolution against Soviet-style rule, but who left power with a reputation for authoritarianism. “My parents were supporting this government until everything happened,” said Tsetskhladze.
Should a host of government figures and high-profile characters such as the honorary chair of Georgian Dream, the billionaire oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, face sanctions, it would send a message to the Georgian public, she said.“I know for a fact that individualised sanctions are being discussed in the United States,” she said.