TBILISI: Georgia’s pro-EU protests entered their third week Thursday, amid fears the post-electoral crisis could further escalate with the ruling party set to appoint a loyalist as the country’s next president.
The Black Sea nation has been in turmoil since the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed victory in October’s parliamentary elections, and the government’s decision last month to delay EU accession talks ignited a fresh wave of mass rallies.
More unrest is expected on Saturday, when Georgian Dream is scheduled to strengthen its grip on power by appointing far-right former footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili as a successor to pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili, who has refused to step down.
Despite windy weather on Thursday evening, several thousand people rallied outside Georgia’s parliament, marking a third week of daily protests that began on November 28.
Many waved EU and Georgian flags while demonstrators blocked traffic on Tbilisi’s main avenue.
“Our protest will last as long as it takes for Georgian Dream to be removed from power,” protester Rusiko Dolidze, 42, told AFP.
“We won’t let a handful of Russian lackeys steal our European future.”
Anti-government rallies were also held in several cities across Georgia, including in the western cities of Batumi, Kutaisi and Zugdidi, local media reported.
A protest is scheduled for Saturday morning outside parliament, where an electoral college controlled by Georgian Dream is expected to elect Kavelashvili as the country’s new figurehead president in an indirect vote boycotted by the opposition.
Kavelashvili will see his legitimacy undermined from the onset, with constitutional law experts — including an author of Georgia’s constitution, Vakhtang Khmaladze — saying the vote will be “illegitimate.”
The new parliament had ratified its own credentials in violation of a legal requirement to await a court decision on Zurabishvili’s bid to annul the earlier election results.
Zurabishvili has backed the opposition’s allegations of election rigging, declared the newly elected parliament and the government “illegitimate” and vowed to remain in office until Georgian Dream organizes a new parliamentary election.
It remains unclear how the government will react to Zurabishvili’s refusal to step down after her successor is inaugurated on December 29.
Zurabishvili is a hugely popular figure among the protesters, who view her as a beacon of Georgia’s European aspirations. Many have expressed their readiness to defend her against any attempted eviction from the presidential palace.
“Let them try to kick Salome out of the presidential palace — we will all stand up to defend her,” said protester Otar Turnava, 23.
“She is the only legitimate leader we have had since Georgian Dream stole the election, and she will lead us into the EU.”
Triggering outrage at home and mounting international condemnation, police have used tear gas and water cannons to disperse previous rallies, arresting more than 400 demonstrators.
The country’s rights ombudsman has accused security forces of “torturing” those detained.
Police have raided opposition party offices and detained their leaders, while masked men have brutally assaulted opposition figures and journalists near the protest venue.
On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the “intimidation” of civil society as well as police violence “against peaceful demonstrators and journalists,” the Elysee said after talks with Georgian Dream’s honorary chairman Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Macron expressed regret that Georgia had “diverged from its European path” and said that “the relationship between the European Union and Georgia would necessarily be affected.”
Ivanishvili, Georgia’s richest man, is widely believed to be pulling the strings of power despite holding no official post.
Macron’s decision to call informal leader Ivanishvili — rather than Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze — is indicative of the West’s hesitancy to recognize the legitimacy of Georgian Dream’s new government.
Brussels has said there are “credible concerns” of torture against demonstrators.
Washington has threatened fresh sanctions against Georgian Dream officials after the European Parliament made a similar demand to the European Commission.
The party rejected fraud accusations and insisted it was committed to Georgia’s bid for EU membership.
Brussels has warned such policies are incompatible with EU membership, while domestic critics accuse the government of copying Russia’s playbook.

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday called for better safeguards for home-schooled children and said there were “questions that need to be answered” after the brutal murder of a 10-year-old girl.

Sara Sharif’s father and step-mother were convicted of murder on Wednesday in a trial that revealed gruesome details of the abuse inflicted on her, and the failure of child protection services to intervene despite warning signs.

Months before her death, her father Urfan Sharif had taken her out of school to be taught at home, after Sara’s teacher reported her bruises to child services.

At the time, child services had probed the incident but did not take any action.

Starmer said the “awful” case was “about making sure that (there are) protecting safeguards for children, particularly those being home-schooled.”

The Department for Education said it was “already taking action to make sure no child falls through the cracks” and “bringing in greater safeguards for children in home education.”

The government plans to “make sure that schools and teachers are involved in safeguarding decisions,” a Downing Street spokesperson said, adding that details would be included in upcoming legislation.

Parents will also need local authority consent for home-schooling at-risk children under the proposed changes, and a register of children who are not in school will be drawn up.

Sara was found dead in her home in August 2023, with extensive injuries including broken bones, burns and even bite marks after being subjected to years of abuse.

She had also been in and out of foster care after Sharif separated from her mother, Olga Sharif, to marry the step-mother Beinash Batool.

Despite previous allegations of abusive behavior against the father made by Olga, Sharif won custody of Sara in 2019, just four years before she was killed.

Children’s Commissioner Rachel de Souza said Sara’s death highlighted “profound weaknesses in our child protection system.”

De Souza said it was “madness” that an at-risk child could be taken out of school, calling for a ban on home-schooling of suspected abuse victims.

According to a child safeguarding report published on Thursday, 485 children in England died or were seriously harmed by abuse or neglect in the year to April 2024.

Urfan Sharif, Beinash Batool and Sara’s uncle Faisal Malik, who was cleared of murder but convicted of causing or allowing her death, are due to be sentenced on Tuesday.