TBILISI: Standing in a crowd of demonstrators outside Georgia’s parliament, rights activist Davit Chkheidze is convinced that his year-long anti-government protest is still going strong, even as the ruling party intensifies a crackdown on dissent and tightens its hold on power.
Mass rallies have gripped the Black Sea nation since a disputed parliamentary election last October plunged Tbilisi into turmoil and prompted the European Union to effectively freeze its accession bid.
The governing Georgian Dream party responded forcefully, police dispersed rallies with rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon, adopted repressive laws targeting independent media and NGOs, and arrested opposition leaders and protesters.
Almost a year on from the height of the rallies, Chkheidze, a 43-year-old former diplomat, is not giving up.
“Popular discontent keeps growing, no one is giving up,” he said as he watched students wave an EU flag.
But the turnout at recent demonstrations suggests, at least for now, a loss of momentum.
After months of waning attendance at daily rallies outside the Georgian parliament, the opposition last month tried to galvanize the crowds once more.
It held a mass protest earlier this month, coinciding with local elections that many parties boycotted, as a “last chance” to save democracy.
Tens of thousands flooded Tbilisi’s central Freedom Square in the largest demonstration for months.
But after a group of protesters tried to storm the presidential palace at the October 4 rally — an incident many of them believed damaged the peaceful reputation of the demonstrations — the government has vowed an even harsher crackdown.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze pledged “every person involved in this violent act will be prosecuted” and the interior ministry reported 45 arrests.
- ‘Blow to protesters’ -
Activists have made no secret of their wish to see Georgian Dream removed from power.
“I support a peaceful revolution,” said 40-year-old university lecturer Ana Zhorzholiani.
The storming of the presidential palace “was a blow to the protest’s legitimacy and peaceful character, and a perfect weapon for government propaganda,” said education specialist Gota Chanturia, 36.
Some are more suspicious.
Avtandil Imnadze, 85, who was a political prisoner in the Soviet Union, said “the attempt to storm the presidential palace was the work of provocateurs.”
Protester Chkheidze told AFP it had only hardened their resolve.
“Georgia has veered hard toward authoritarianism, off its European track,” and toward Russia, he said.
“The cradle of protest outside parliament is a symbol of resistance and proof that Georgians are not swallowing this.”
In power since 2012, the Georgian Dream party has faced accusations of democratic backsliding, drifting toward Russia and derailing Georgia’s EU-membership bid, which is enshrined in the country’s constitution.
The party rejects the allegations, saying it is safeguarding “stability” in the country of four million while a Western “deep state” seeks to drag it into the war in Ukraine with the help of opposition parties.
- ‘Revolution’ -
Some of those who flock to protest outside the parliament every day have little hope of change without the West hitting Georgia with sanctions.
“Mass sanctions will be the key precondition that gives the protest the strength to shake the regime... and ultimately allow us to carry out a real revolution, which must be peaceful,” said activist Lasha Chkhartishvili, 45.
Chkheidze is sure change will come.
“I can’t say when the spark catches, but it could be any moment,” he told AFP.
At a recent demonstration along Tbilisi’s central Rustaveli Avenue, protesters chanted, “no peace until there is justice!“
Then the crowd thinned out, ready to return the next day. Another rally to add to the count. Georgian Dream still firmly in power, die-hard activists undeterred.
“There is an uprising in Georgia. A revolution has not yet happened,” said Imnadze.
“Such an uprising cannot end without victory.”
