‘No one will go unpunished’ Georgian prime minister vows crackdown after protesters try to storm presidential palace over disputed election
Georgia saw its largest protests in months on Saturday, sparked by local elections in which the ruling Georgian Dream party, widely seen as pro-Russian, claimed a sweeping victory.
During the demonstrations, protesters breached the fence of the presidential palace and entered its courtyard. Clashes quickly broke out between demonstrators and police, who responded with water cannons and tear gas.
Former Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili and the country’s political opposition do not recognize the results of the October 2024 parliamentary elections — also won by Georgian Dream — due to widely alleged election violations. She also refuses to recognize the election of Georgia’s new president, Mikheil Kavelashvili, in December 2024, and continues to consider herself the country’s legitimate head of state.
In Saturday’s election, Georgian Dream declared victory before the official results were announced. Late that evening, Zourabichvili posted a statement on X, alleging that the protesters’ entry into the palace was staged:
At least five of the demonstrators have been arrested, including opera singer Paata Burchuladze, one of the protest’s leaders. During Saturday’s rally, he read a statement declaring the current government “illegitimate” and calling for power to “return to the people.”
On Sunday, Prime Minister and Georgian Dream party leader Irakli Kobakhidze vowed that “no one will go unpunished” for taking part in the “attempted overthrow,” which he claimed had received support from the E.U. Security officials later claimed that a stockpile of weapons and explosives had been found in a forest near Tbilisi.
