Clashes erupt outside Georgia parliament between pro-EU protesters, police

Violent clashes erupted outside Georgia’s parliament between police and demonstrators protesting the government’s decision to delay European Union membership talks amid a post-election crisis.

Georgia's President Salome Zurabishvili, right, attends a demonstration in downtown Tbilisi at the weekend after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said the country would not pursue European Union accession until 2028. Picture: Giorgi Arjevanidze/AFP

Georgia’s normally pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili said she would not step down until last month’s contested parliamentary elections were re-run.

The Black Sea nation has been rocked by turmoil since the ruling Georgian Dream party declared victory in October 26 parliamentary elections that pro-EU opposition parties have decried as falsified.

They are boycotting the new parliament, while Ms Zurabishvili has sought to annul the election results through the country’s constitutional court.

Calling herself “the only legitimate institution in the country”, Ms Zurabishvili insisted that “as long as there are no new elections ... my mandate continues”.

“Nobody outside Georgia, democratic partners, nobody has recognised the (October) elections,” she added.

“When the elections do not reflect the will of the people, then the parliament is not legitimate, the government neither, nor the president that they are to elect next week.”

Ms Zurabishvili, a Paris-born former French diplomat, said she has set up on Saturday a “national council” consisting of opposition parties and civil society representatives, which will ensure “stability in this country”.

Georgia’s newly elected parliament has said it will elect Ms Zurabishvili’s replacement on December 14.

Brussels has demanded an investigation into what it said were “serious” irregularities reported by election observers.

Violent clashes, meanwhile, erupted outside Georgia’s parliament between police and demonstrators over the government’s decision to delay EU membership talks.

Thousands of people gathered in Tbilisi on Saturday for a third night of protests in which dozens were arrested. Chaotic scenes unfolded as police chased protesters through city streets, beating them and making arrests.

AFP