(29 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tbilisi, Georgia – 29 December 2024
1. Wide of protest in front of Parliament building
2. Various of protesters holding up red cards and blowing whistles
3. Close of protester holding up placard reading (English) "Ukraine is a lion, Georgia is an eagle, god bless America"
4. SOUNDBITE (Georgian) Sophie Shamanidi, protester:
"Because today our President is a footballer, we are showing him a red card and the next step will be sending him off the pitch. The Georgian people will definitely do this, because it was a circus that they have held today in the Parliament. If you could see what expressions people who participating in that circus had, I really feel sorry for them."
5. Various of protesters standing in front of line of police
6. Mid of police
7. Various of protesters – one wearing an EU flag around his shoulders – banging on Parliament gate with stones, holding red cards
8. Various of protest in front of Parliament building
STORYLINE:
Protesters in Georgia gathered in front of the Parliament building on Sunday as former soccer player, Mikheil Kavelashvili, was formally inaugurated as president.
His inauguration cements the ruling party’s grip in what the opposition calls a blow to the country’s EU aspirations and a victory for former imperial ruler Russia.
Protesters held up red cards, which in football indicates dismissal from the game, as symbols of their discontent.
"We are showing him a red card and the next step will be sending him off the pitch," one protester said.
Outgoing Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said on Sunday morning that she would vacate her residence at the Orbeliani Palace in Tbilisi, but insisted she would not relinquish her claim to the presidency.
She called Kavelashvili’s inauguration a “parody."
Kavelashvili, 53, who was the only candidate on the ballot, easily won the vote earlier in December given the Georgian Dream party’s control of a 300-seat electoral college that replaced direct presidential elections in 2017.
It is made up of members of Parliament, municipal councils and regional legislatures.
In his speech on Sunday, Kavelashvili promised to be “everyone’s president, regardless of whether they like me or not.” He called for the nation to unite behind him around "shared values, the principles of mutual respect, and the future we should build together."
Georgian Dream has vowed to continue pushing toward accession in the European Union but also wants to “reset” ties with Russia.
Georgia’s outgoing president and main pro-Western parties have boycotted the post-election parliamentary sessions and demanded a rerun of the ballot.
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