Georgian opposition announces plans for another protest on Monday
Nov 09, 2020
Tbilisi [Georgia], November 9 (ANI/Sputnik): Another protest against the results of the recent general election in Georgia will be held on Monday in the capital city of Tbilisi, opposition leader Nika Melia, who is a member of the former ruling United National Movement (UNM) party, told journalists.
"Tomorrow at 6 pm [14:00 GMT on Monday] we will be waiting for everyone on Rustaveli Avenue [in Tbilisi]. We will fight till the end. Tomorrow, the entire nation will gather, not just the opposition," Melia told journalists around midnight on Sunday.
Earlier, a Sputnik correspondent reported that a massive protest of the Georgian opposition and their supporters was being held on Sunday outside the country's parliament in Tbilisi. The protesters later marched to the Central Election Commission (CEC) building in the Georgian capital. The demonstrators said they refused to recognize the results of the recent general election and were demanding a new one.
According to a Sputnik correspondent, several demonstrators were injured when Georgian police used a water cannon to break up the crowd on Sunday. Water cannons were used again around midnight on Sunday to disperse the protesters who were refusing to leave.
The Georgian Interior Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that law enforcement officers were justified in their response to the demonstrators, as protesters had tried to storm the CEC building and used brute force in defiance of police orders.
Georgia held a general election on October 31, which resulted in the ruling Georgian Dream party emerging as the winner. Altogether, seven political parties that managed to cross the one-percent threshold became eligible for entering the legislature. Following the announcement of the results, the country's opposition has been organizing protests, calling for another election. (ANI/Sputnik)
