Mikheil Saakashvili calls for protests after last year’s election that international observers say was free and fair
28 September 2021 - 12:27
by Agency Staff
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Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili gestures while speaking during an interview in Kiev, Ukraine, in this March 13 2015 file photo. Picture: BLOOMBERG/VINCENT MUNDY
Tbilisi — Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia, announced plans late on Monday to fly home on the day local elections are held this week to help “save the country” and called for post-election street protests.
Saakashvili, who is based in Ukraine, said he planned to fly back on Saturday, despite facing imprisonment on charges that he says are politically motivated.
“The fate of Georgia is being decided, Georgia’s survival is at stake and that’s why I took a ticket on the evening of October 2 so I can be with you and protect your [political] will with you, so I can take part in saving Georgia,” he said.
Tensions between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition, which Saakashvili supports, have been severely strained since a parliamentary election last year that the opposition alleged was rigged. International observers said at the time that the election had been competitive and that fundamental freedoms had generally been respected.
A Georgian court in June 2018 sentenced Saakashvili in absentia to six years in prison for abuse of power and seeking to cover up evidence about the beating of an opposition MP when he was president.
Irakli Garibashvili, the prime minister, said the police would arrest Saakashvili if he came back.
“As soon as Saakashvili steps on our soil he will be arrested and sent to prison,” the Interfax news agency cited the prime minister as saying.
In a video address posted on his Facebook page, Saakashvili, who helped found the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party, called for post-election protests.
“We must all vote and show our position, and only when the polls close, we should go out onto the streets of our cities and villages, and protect our votes and our victory,” the 53-year-old said against the backdrop of a red-and-white Georgian flag.
Before it annulled a political deal with the opposition brokered by the EU, Georgian Dream agreed to call early parliamentary elections if it failed to secure at least 43% in the local elections.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Georgian ex-president faces jail on return home
Mikheil Saakashvili calls for protests after last year’s election that international observers say was free and fair
Tbilisi — Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia, announced plans late on Monday to fly home on the day local elections are held this week to help “save the country” and called for post-election street protests.
Saakashvili, who is based in Ukraine, said he planned to fly back on Saturday, despite facing imprisonment on charges that he says are politically motivated.
“The fate of Georgia is being decided, Georgia’s survival is at stake and that’s why I took a ticket on the evening of October 2 so I can be with you and protect your [political] will with you, so I can take part in saving Georgia,” he said.
Tensions between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition, which Saakashvili supports, have been severely strained since a parliamentary election last year that the opposition alleged was rigged. International observers said at the time that the election had been competitive and that fundamental freedoms had generally been respected.
A Georgian court in June 2018 sentenced Saakashvili in absentia to six years in prison for abuse of power and seeking to cover up evidence about the beating of an opposition MP when he was president.
Irakli Garibashvili, the prime minister, said the police would arrest Saakashvili if he came back.
“As soon as Saakashvili steps on our soil he will be arrested and sent to prison,” the Interfax news agency cited the prime minister as saying.
In a video address posted on his Facebook page, Saakashvili, who helped found the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party, called for post-election protests.
“We must all vote and show our position, and only when the polls close, we should go out onto the streets of our cities and villages, and protect our votes and our victory,” the 53-year-old said against the backdrop of a red-and-white Georgian flag.
Before it annulled a political deal with the opposition brokered by the EU, Georgian Dream agreed to call early parliamentary elections if it failed to secure at least 43% in the local elections.
Reuters
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