Tbilisi, Dec 1, (dpa/GNA) – Violent clashes between police and anti-government demonstrators, broke out overnight in Georgia for the third night in a row, following the government’s deicision to suspend talks on joining the European Union.
According to Georgian media, police officers used water cannon and tear gas on the crowds, while some demonstrators launched fireworks at the police.
It was not until Sunday morning that the uniformed officers, succeeded in pushing the protesters away from the parliament building.
Demonstrators have now set up roadblocks near Tbilisi State University in the capital. The clashes and a deepening political crisis between the nationalist conservative government and the pro-European opposition, are threatening to tear Georgia apart.
Official information on the number of injured and arrested overnight, was not immediately available on Sunday morning.
On Saturday night, the police reportedly arrested 107 people for hooliganism in the capital Tbilisi alone.
Demonstrations are also taking place in other cities across Georgia.
The background to the protests is the parliamentary elections at the end of October, which were overshadowed by allegations of fraud, and in which the ruling Georgian Dream party was declared the winner.
The opposition has not recognized the election results, and opposition lawmakers have refused to accept their mandates.
The latest wave of protests kicked off after Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, announced that he would cancel EU accession negotiations until 2028. He has accused the EU of interference in Georgian matters and blackmail.
According to surveys, the majority of the population wants to join the EU, a goal that is enshrined in the country’s constitution.
The conflict has also spread to an institutional level.
Several ambassadors have resigned in protest, while the pro-European incumbent president, Salome Zourabichvili, has declared her intention of resisting the change in government.
Zourabichvili, whose term is due to end in mid-December, has said that she will remain in office, since an “illegitimate parliament cannot elect a new president.”
Georgian law has been changed so that, for the first time, her successor will not be directly elected by the people, but is instead to be appointed by members of parliament and regional representatives.
GNA